Teacher retirement: who pays and what the district owes

Key facts

• Plan: Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), run by the state¹
• Each pays 8.25%: workers, the district and the state (2024-25)¹
• District paid (2024-25): $12.6 million; workers $27.6 million; the state $20.3 million¹
• District’s share of the pension gap: $133.5 million¹
• Share saved, whole plan: about 78% (Aug. 2024)²

In short

Teachers and other school workers get a pension from a state plan.¹ Workers, the district and the state each pay in.¹ The plan has about 78 cents for each dollar it expects to pay out.² Leander ISD’s share of the gap is about $134 million. The state covers another $204 million tied to the district.¹

How it works

• One plan for the state. Every Texas public school is in TRS. The Legislature sets the pay-in rates and the benefits, not the school board.¹
• Three payers. In 2024-25, workers paid 8.25% of their pay. The state and the district each paid rates of 8.25%, on rules set in state law.¹
• Retiree health care. A second state plan, TRS-Care, helps retirees pay for health care. The district’s share of that plan’s gap is about $88.9 million. That plan has saved only about 14% of what it expects to owe.¹²

The numbers (2024-25 school year)

	Amount
District payment	$12,600,965
Worker payments	$27,573,335
State payment for the district’s workers	$20,254,371
District’s share of the pension gap	$133,519,846
State’s share tied to the district	$204,210,480
District’s share of the health plan gap	$88,859,459

Source: district annual financial report, notes on pensions and retiree health care.¹

The other side

• The district does not run this plan. It cannot change benefits or rates. The gap is on its books because accounting rules require it.¹
• The gap depends on guesses. TRS guesses it will earn 7% a year. At 6%, the district’s share would be about $213 million. At 8%, about $67 million.¹
• The share saved moves with markets. It was about 89% in 2021 and about 73% in 2023.²
• The district’s share is growing. Its slice of the whole plan rose from 0.2039% to 0.2186% in one year, as it hired more staff.¹

Questions to ask

• When will the district report what it will pay into teacher retirement this year?
• Where does the district post its share of the state plan’s costs?

What you can do

• Ask your state lawmakers about TRS. The Legislature sets the rules.
• See the pension and retiree health notes in the district’s annual financial report.

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.

What we still don’t know

• What the district will pay in 2025-26. The 2025-26 report is not out yet.

Footnotes

1. Leander ISD, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report 2025 (year ended June 30, 2025), Note 11 (pension: rates, contributions, net pension liability, proportion 0.2186%, up 0.0147%, sensitivity at 6% and 8%) and Note 12 (TRS-Care: net OPEB liability $88,859,459). Final report posted to the Nov. 20, 2025 board meeting. https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/DownloadAgenda/795?meeting=714882 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴

2. Same report, Required Supplementary Information, Schedule G-2 (plan net position as a percentage of total pension liability, measurement years 2020–2024) and G-4 (OPEB). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴