About NCTR
Committees Governing
Documents Member
Directory Staff
 The National
Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR) is constituted as an
independent association dedicated to safeguarding the integrity
of public retirement systems in the United States and its territories
to which teachers belong and to promoting the rights and benefits
of all present and future members of
the systems.
NCTR began in 1924, affiliated with
the
National
Education
Association
in 1937, and became an independent association in 1971. NCTR
is constituted as a nonprofit tax-exempt entity under Section 501(c)(6)
of the Internal Revenue Code.
Members
NCTR membership includes 69 state, territorial and local
pension systems. These systems serve more than 18 million active
and retired teachers, non- teaching personnel, and other public
employees, and have combined assets of more than $2 trillion
in their trust funds.
Purposes
The purposes of the Council are to:
1. Provide guidance in the development and management
of financially sound and equitable retirement plans for qualified
career public employees and to promote benefit levels for members
and beneficiaries that will assure economic security.
2. Encourage plan directors, administrators, and trustees to:
(a) provide progressive leadership and sound management to assure
that plan objectives are attained; (b) identify problems that impact
plan administration and devise solutions in those problems; (c)
act as a catalyst in dealing with federal legislative and regulatory
issues that impact plan administration.
3. Provide a national forum for the discussion
and resolution of public policy issues affecting public
pension funds by: (a) collecting and analyzing data about
the funds; (b) presenting the results of such analysis
to Congress, relevant federal agencies, and comparable
state bodies; and (c) acting as a clearinghouse so that
NCTR members can share information about state legislative
and state court litigation activity.
4. Encourage the development of standards of conduct
for plan fiduciaries that will assure control and management of plan
assets for the exclusive benefit of members and beneficiaries.
5. Counsel NCTR member systems in the development of
procedures to assure disclosure to members (and others where required
by law) of all information relating to the plan, including benefits
and funding. This activity should include the publication and distribution
of annual reports reflecting the financial condition of the plan, as
well as the distribution to each participant of an annual statement
reflecting the status of his/her account.
6. Urge NCTR member systems to undergo periodic actuarial
evaluations to determine the soundness of funding practices. The
valuation should utilize sound actuarial procedures to assure the adequacy
of each plan’s funding.
7. Encourage NCTR member systems to develop a statement
of investment objectives and policies designed to protect plan
assets and to achieve the best possible investment yields, consistent
with the standards of prudence imposed upon funding fiduciaries.
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