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Michigan's education time bomb - Part 1

• Michigan's education time bomb: Costly, loophole-ridden retirement system threatens public schools
• Laws, court rulings fueled crisis
• Lakeview district can't tighten belt anymore
• Audio: Ken Braun, Mackinac Center policy analyst, on the escalating taxpayer cost for school retiree pensions and benefits
• Audio: Doug Roberts, director of a public policy institute at MSU, on school employees' incentives to retire early
• Do teachers deserve better retiree pension and health care benefits than other workers?
• School Talk: Read and post comments on this series

Michigan's education time bomb - Part 2

• The $1,470-an-hour loophole
• Employees buy time, state pays
• Retire-rehire move costs millions
• Buyouts: Short-term fix, long-term problems
• Audio: Ken Braun, Mackinac Center policy analyst, on the 'accounting fiction' that the benefits are funded

Michigan's education time bomb - Part 3

• Politics stall school retiree reform
• Readers weigh in on teacher benefits
• Audio: Ken Braun, Mackinac Center policy analyst, on legislators responding to pressure
• Audio: Doug Roberts, director of a public policy institute at MSU, on the prospects for changing school retirement policy in the state legislature
• Does the school employees retirement system need a major overhaul, minor reforms, or no change at all?