Giving Compass' Take:

• This story at The Hechinger Report shines a light on data regarding teacher pensions and examines the hidden financial pressures challenging American schools because when states try to rescue their pension systems from bankruptcy, it leaves less money for classrooms and teacher pay.

• What role can donors play in supporting school and teacher costs? 

• With this in mind, what is the best way to increase teacher pay?

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Glenn Gustafson was already bracing for a rough Valentine’s Day. Looming on his calendar was a sure-to-be-wrenching meeting to cut $10 million in spending from the Colorado Springs School District’s budget, a move largely forced by rapidly declining enrollment as families moved out of the district and singles moved in. Gustafson, the district’s CFO and — according to his wife — the “world’s only extroverted accountant,” had dubbed the meeting the “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.”

And then, the week before the scheduled budget bloodshed, he attended a presentation by the director of the state’s pension system and got some unpleasant news. Gustafson learned that his district might have to slash an additional $890,000 next year, as part of the state’s latest attempt to make the system solvent by 2049.

Read the full article about rising teacher pension costs by Sarah Butrymowicz at The Hechinger Report.