Welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Pensions! We have gathered the best stories about pensions and retirement security from the previous week. This is the news you need to know in the fight for a secure retirement.

San Jose Expected To Lose Hundreds Of Cops by Tran Nguyen. Public agencies across the country are facing significant recruitment and retention challenges. In San Jose, California, the city’s police department is expecting a mass exodus in the next three years after already facing thinning numbers in recent years. However, this is not the first time San Jose’s public agencies have faced an exodus of their public employees. In 2006, Mayor Chuck Reed led a failed ballot measure campaign to increase employee contributions to as much as 16% to cut city costs. Although the ballot measure was passed in 2012, courts found it unconstitutional when city employees challenged it. Pensions remain one of the most critical tools for recruiting and retaining public employees. Attempts to alter pension plans often lead to recruitment issues in the future. In San Jose, this is no exception, as the city has faced the same issues for over a decade. 

NM school districts say increased teacher salaries helping shortages by Alexa Skonieski. School districts are not exempt from the public employee recruitment and retention crisis now facing states nationwide. The National Education Association estimates that there are currently 300,000 teachers and support staff shortages in the U.S. In New Mexico this year, to boost recruitment and retention for school district staff, Governor Lujan Grisham signed legislation that would increase teacher pay by $10,000. Since then, school districts such as the Rio Rancho Public Schools District have closed the gap of needed teachers. “We have been able to fill a majority of our positions for teachers, brought a lot of teachers in from out of state, a lot of teachers who left New Mexico in the past are coming back to teach for Rio Rancho,” Wyndham Kemsley, the Communications Director for RRPS said. Paired with a defined-benefit pension, these pay raises for educators and support staff have bettered school districts’ recruitment. 

Be sure to check back in next Friday for the latest news in the fight for a secure retirement!