In a Forbes column, NIRS Executive Director Dan Doonan reports on his visit to Alaska where he is meeting with key stakeholders to share the findings from a recent report requested by the Alaska Department of Education on teacher recruitment and retention.

The report indicates that state’s decision to do away with pensions is not good for Alaskans. Some 58 percent of those working in the new 401(k)-style savings plan have less than five years of service, as do 42 percent of teachers in the new plan. In a state that already had workforce challenges, employee retention is worsening and the trend here in Alaska is diverging more and more from the workforce retention experiences of other states. Read the column.