The NRTA Pension Round Table (PRT)

Source: NRTA Live & Learn

History

The Pension Round Table began as an ad hoc group in 1995. Its original members came to Washington to discuss how to protect pension funds and how to serve members by educating them about pensions and pension policies. To make the Round Table official, in March 2000, members adopted a structure to ensure the group's continuity.

Mission

The mission of the NRTA Pension Round Table is to monitor trends in issues concerning public employees’ retirement, including pensions and other benefits, and to develop recommendations for research, public policy, and advocacy for NRTA: AARP's Educator Community.

Membership

The state Retired Educator Associations nominate candidates for the Round Table. Nominees must have at least two years experience in any of the following areas: state-level lobbying on public employee issues; participating membership in a public employee retirement board or state legislative committee; or conducting research on public pension issues.

Members serve three-year terms, which are staggered so that the Round Table maintains a core group of knowledgeable pension professionals. The president of the Association of State Retired Teacher Executives (ASRTE) and a representative of the National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR) also serve.

PRT Activities

PRT members review legislative actions and statutes that affect retired educators and other recipients of public pensions. Members also recommend areas for research and/or study to the Pension Round Table, NRTA, and/or AARP. The members of the Pension Round Table work with NRTA professional staff to develop and prioritize the agenda for each meeting. They usually meet twice a year, most often in Washington, D.C.

The PRT recommended the research covered in the following publications:

• Checklist for Public Employee Retirement Systems (1997)
• Is Your Pension Protected? A Compilation of Constitutional Pension Protections (2000)
• Fighting Inflation: How Does Your COLA Compare? (Updated in 2004) Previous studies were published in 1997, 2000, and 2002.
• The Impact of Cyclical Trends in Investment Returns on the Funding of State Teacher-Retirement Plans (2005) Dr. Stanley Wisniewski, President of Workplace Economics, Inc., presented this study, which you are welcome to print and distribute. 

More Information

For more information about the Pension Round Table, please contact Dara Lenhof Dann.
Telephone: (202) 434-3931
E-mail: DDann@aarp.org