What’s on tap:
Updated 1:50 p.m. – The Public Employees’ Retirement Association earned 14 percent on its investments in 2010, continuing its recovery from the recession.
The rate of return was reported in the annual financial report and audit of the pension system, released this afternoon during a meeting of the Legislative Audit Committee. PERA has been a focus of legislative interest for the last three years, since the recession battered the system’s investments.
A 2010 law instituted wide-ranging reforms in the system, including a freeze on annual increases in retirement benefits and various changes in benefit calculations and eligibility. But some legislative Republicans still harbor doubts about PERA’s strategy for returning to solvency over the next 30 years, primarily the system’s assumption that investment returns will average 8 percent over that period.
PERA covers all Colorado teachers and a substantial number of higher education system employees.
Check EdNews later for a full report on the audit and the meeting.
Weekly reading: News from all over
Message from a charter school: Thrive or transfer. NY Times
2009 report flagged dozens of Penn schools for possible cheating. Philadelphia Notebook
L.A. teachers from low-performing schools face job-search stigma. L.A. Times
School rankings rate low with educators. Columbus Dispatch
High-stakes tests and cheating: An inevitable combination? Hechinger Report
Educators’ late-career pay raises strain Calif. pension system. Sacramento Bee
Hypnotist principal faces questions after suicides. AP