The Board and its Duties

The Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement Board administers the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System (MTRS). The Board is composed of seven members chosen in accordance with the enabling statute of the MTRS:

• the Massachusetts State Treasurer or his or her designee
• the Auditor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or his or her designee
• two members who are elected by the active and retired members of the system,
• one member—who must be a retired teacher—who is appointed by the Governor,
• one member who is chosen by the vote of the other six, and
• the last member and the Board’s chairperson is the Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education or his or her designee.

Excepting the chairperson, State Treasurer and State Auditor, each member serves a four-year term. The length of the chairperson’s term depends upon the term of office of the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education. The Board, which meets at least once a month,

• votes on every disability retirement allowance,
• investigates all claims for accidental and ordinary disabilities,
• establishes the rules and regulations of the agency, and
• oversees the dissemination of services and information to its membership of more than 93,000 active educators and over 66,000 retirees and survivors.

Proudly serving Massachusetts educators since 1914

Established on July 1, 1914, the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System is the largest of the Commonwealth’s 104 contributory retirement systems. We provide retirement, disability and survivor benefits to more than 94,000 active educators and over 67,000 retirees and survivors.

Mission statement

To ensure that members of the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System achieve and maintain a successful and secure retirement through responsible benefits administration, financial integrity and the provision of outstanding services.

So reads our mission statement. If you have any questions about MTRS benefits or our services—or have any feedback or suggestions for us at any time—please let us know. We are here to serve you!

Type of plan

The MTRS is a defined benefit retirement plan that operates as a qualified plan under section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. Under the MTRS defined benefit plan, retirement benefits are determined according to a set formula, and the amount is guaranteed regardless of fluctuations in the pension fund’s performance; retirement benefits are payable for a retiree’s lifetime.

Governance

The MTRS is governed by the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement Board, which is comprised of seven members.

Membership

Eligibility for membership in the MTRS is primarily determined by the definition of “teacher” in M.G.L. c. 32, §1. However, other sections of Chapter 32, Chapter 71 §89(y), as well as the MTRS regulation on membership eligibility also set out criteria for membership. In general, individuals employed as teachers or administrators in a Massachusetts public school outside of the City of Boston, or in any educational collaborative or charter school in Massachusetts (and who meet the eligibility requirements) are required to become members of the MTRS.

Eligibility requirements for superannuation retirement benefits

• Tier 1 members (effective membership date before April 2, 2012): EITHER age 55 with a minimum of 10 years of creditable service, OR any age with a minimum of 20 years of creditable service
• Tier 2 members (effective membership date on or after April 2, 2012): Age 60 with a minimum of 10 years of creditable service

Actuarial data as of 1/1/2021

MTRS Facts at a glance: For highlights of the system’s demographics, funding, investment performance and benefits paid to Massachusetts residents by county, see our one-page MTRS Facts at a glance, 2019 

Source: PERAC Actuarial Valuation Report 2021

Asset management

The assets of the MTRS are managed by the Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) Board.

Oversight

The MTRS and all Massachusetts public contributory retirement systems are overseen by the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission (PERAC).

M.G.L. Chapter 15, Sec 16. Teachers’ Retirement Board

There shall be a teachers’ retirement board for the purpose of administering the teachers’ retirement system established under the provisions of chapter 32. Such board shall consist of seven members as follows: the commissioner of education, or his designee, who shall be a member ex officio and who shall serve as chairman, the state treasurer, or his designee, the state auditor, or his designee, a fourth member who shall be appointed by the governor for a term of four years and who shall be a retired former public school teacher within the commonwealth, two members who shall be elected by the members in or retired from service of such system from among their number in such manner and for such term, not exceeding four years, as the commission shall determine, and a seventh member who shall be chosen by the other six for a term of four years. Future elections of the fifth and sixth members shall be held under the supervision of such retirement board and the terms of the fifth and sixth members shall be arranged so as not to expire in the year of expiration of the term of the seventh member. If a seventh member is not chosen by the other six members within 30 days after the expiration of the term of the seventh member, the governor shall appoint a seventh member for a term of four years. Each member of such retirement board shall continue to hold office until the expiration of his term and until the qualification of his successor. Upon the expiration of the term of office of any elected, chosen or appointed member or in case of a vacancy in either of said offices, a successor shall be elected, chosen or appointed as aforesaid for a four-year term or for the unexpired portion thereof, as the case may be, except that in no event shall the term of the seventh member expire in the same year as the term of either the fifth or sixth member.

The Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System is governed by Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 32, as well as regulations contained in the Code of Massachusetts Regulations (CMR).

The Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System is a contributory retirement system governed by the Commonwealth’s retirement law, Chapter 32 of the Massachusetts General Laws. The MTRS, which is the largest of the Commonwealth’s 104 contributory retirement systems, provides retirement, disability and survivor benefits to Massachusetts teachers, administrators and their families.

The MTRS is a defined benefit retirement plan intended to provide a meaningful retirement benefit to the employee who has chosen a career in public service. It operates as a qualified plan under section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Your MTRS benefits

Your MTRS benefits are very important to your financial future—the MTRS is your retirement plan. During your retirement, your MTRS pension may be your greatest financial asset. The plan provides the following types of benefits to eligible members:

• Regular
• Disability retirement benefits (ordinary and accidental)
• Survivor and accidental death benefits (if you die while you are an active member)

Under the MTRS “defined benefit” plan, your retirement benefit is determined according to a set formula, and the amount is guaranteed regardless of fluctuations in the pension fund’s performance. Likewise, your benefit amount is payable for your lifetime.

In contrast, a “defined contribution” plan is dependent on the contributions made by the employee, and possibly by the employer, and the growth of those assets over time as they are invested in the financial markets. A defined contribution plan is very susceptible to fluctuations in the market; nothing is guaranteed.

Notice: While reasonable efforts have been made to assure the accuracy of this information, this is an unofficial version of the MTRS regulations, and is for informational use only. For the official, printed version, please contact the State Bookstore (see http://www.sec.state.ma.us/spr/sprcat/catidx.htm for more information).

807 CMR Regulations

• 807 CMR 2.00: Rules Of Election
• 807 CMR 3.00: Retirement And Credit For Service
• 807 CMR 4.00: Eligibility and Continued Membership
• 807 CMR 5.00: Employer Reporting Requirements
• 807 CMR 6.00: Regular Compensation
• 807 CMR 7.00: Documentation To Be Obtained For Ordinary Or Accidental Disability Retirement
• 807 CMR 9.00: Elective Payroll Deductions For RetirementPlus Accelerated Contributions Under M.G.L. C. 32, § 5
• 807 CMR 10.00: Maternity Service Purchases
• 807 CMR 12.00: Rollover Distributions and Trust to Trust Transfers
• 807 CMR 13.00: Transfer Of Membership Of RetirementPlus Members
• 807 CMR 14.00: Purchase of Creditable Service For Prior Vocational Work Experience
• 807 CMR 15.00: Confidentiality Of Information
• 807 CMR 16.00: Qualified Excess Benefit Arrangement
• 807 CMR 17.00: Workers’ Compensation Benefit Offset and Verification
• 807 CMR 18.00: Mandatory Direct Deposit
• 807 CMR 19.00: Eligibility For Out Of State Service Purchase
• 807 CMR 20.00: Employer In Qualified Governmental Plan
• 807 CMR 21.00: Maternity Service Credit
• 807 CMR 22.00: Interest On Incorrect Payments
• 807 CMR 23.00: Effective Date Of Service Purchase Interest Rate
• 807 CMR 24.00: Shared Employees

About your benefits and the MTRS “defined benefit” plan

Your MTRS benefits are very important to your financial future—the MTRS is your retirement plan. During your retirement, your MTRS pension may be your greatest financial asset. The plan provides the following types of benefits to eligible members:

• Regular “service” retirement benefits
• Disability retirement benefits ordinary and accidental)
• Survivor and accidental death benefits (if you die while you are an active member)

Under the MTRS “defined benefit” plan, your retirement benefit is determined according to a set formula, and the amount is guaranteed regardless of fluctuations in the pension fund’s performance. Likewise, your benefit amount is payable for your lifetime.

In contrast, a “defined contribution” plan is dependent on the contributions made by the employee, and possibly by the employer, and the growth of those assets over time as they are invested in the financial markets. A defined contribution plan is very susceptible to fluctuations in the market; nothing is guaranteed.

How your MTRS benefits are funded

The funding for your MTRS benefit comes from three sources:

1. Employee contributions: your retirement contributions to the MTRS during your membership;
2. State (“Employer”) contributions: the Commonwealth makes an annual appropriation from tax revenues to help finance public employee retirement benefits. Unlike in most other states, local school district employers do not contribute toward their teachers’ retirement benefits. Instead, for purposes of retirement benefits, the Commonwealth is the “employer” for public school teachers.
3. Investment earnings: the earnings on the Pension Reserves Investment Trust (PRIT) Fund, which holds the assets of the system and is managed by the Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) Board.

Note: MTRS members who leave service before retirement and take a refund from the system only receive their own employee contributions and eligible interest; they receive no employer contributions.

About the PRIT fund

The Pension Reserves Investment Trust (PRIT, a pooled investment fund established to invest the pension reserve assets of the Massachusetts State Employees’ and Teachers’ Retirement Systems) is managed by the Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) Board. PRIM’s mandate is to accumulate assets through investment earnings and other revenue sources in order to reduce the Commonwealth’s unfunded pension liability and to assist local participating retirement systems in meeting their future pension obligations.

The PRIM Board consists of nine elected and appointed members. The MTRS is well represented, as three of these members are:

• a member of our Board, who is selected by the other Board members (currently, Dennis J. Naughton );
• an active or retired member of the MTRS, who is elected by the MTRS membership (currently, Robert Brousseau, a retired educator of the Wareham Public Schools); and
• the State Treasurer, who is a member ex officio of both the MTRS Board and the PRIM Board, and who serves as Chairman of the PRIM Board (currently, Deborah B. Goldberg ).

For information on the PRIT Fund’s investment performance, see the latest quarterly PRIM Board update , monthly summary of plan performance  or visit PRIM’s website.

The MTRS, then known as the Teachers’ Retirement Association, was established as part of Chapter 832 of the Acts of 1913, signed on June 19, 1913. The legislation had a tumultuous history: in 1911, a bill asking for enactment of a teachers’ retirement system failed to pass the Legislature passed a resolve which asked the Board of Education to decide whether such a system would work. In response, the Board presented recommendations with Chapter 832, the bill that created the MTRB, effective July 1, 1914.

Over the past 105 years, the MTRS has seen economic depression and booms, two World Wars, and countless numbers of retirees and active members. The organization has had three names—Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement “Association,” “Board,” and, finally, “System” (though “Board” remains the term for the Board itself).

MTRS Executive Directors

Edmund S. Cogswell, Executive Secretary, 1914-1916

Cogswell managed a clerical staff of two and received a yearly stipend of $2,000 for his services.

Clayton L. Lent, Executive Secretary, 1916-1960
When he retired, the MTA wrote that Lent was known as “Mr. Retirement” to thousands of Massachusetts educators because of his long and distinguished career.

Joseph B. Carroll, Executive Secretary, 1960-1975

Mary Silva, Acting Executive Secretary, 1975-1977
For two years, the system ran solely on the diligence and hard work of its employees. Staff member Mary Silva, a TRB legend with over 40 years of retirement experience, served as Acting Secretary from 1975 to 1977.

Joel Goober, Executive Secretary, 1977-1979

Daniel Kelly, Executive Secretary, 1979-1984

Thomas Lussier, Executive Director, 1984-2003
Lussier changed the identity of the agency by expanding its mission: In addition to computing retirement benefits, the MTRB would now reach out to members to educate them on their rights and benefits.

Joan Schloss, Executive Director, 2003-2014

Erika M. Glaster, Executive Director, 2014-present

Milestones

1913
Chapter 832 of the Acts of 1913, which calls for the creation of the Teachers’ Retirement Association, is proposed. Though Governor Foss’s approval is unlikely (“Veto of School Teachers’ Retirement bill probable,” reports The Boston Globe), he signs the bill.

1914
The Teachers’ Retirement Association opens its doors on July 1. The agency is housed at 616 Somerset Street, a few blocks from the State House.

George F. Wilson, teacher in the Beverly and Wakefield school districts, retires as the first Teachers’ Retirement System retiree.

1916
Edmund S. Cogswell, the first Executive Secretary of The Teachers’ Retirement Association, retires. The Board appoints Clayton L. Lent, who holds the position for 44 years, the longest tenure of any Executive Secretary or Executive Director.

1931
The Teachers’ Retirement Association moves a few doors down to 20 Somerset Street.

1934
The agency moves again, this time to 100 Nashua Street, on a lot that now houses the Nashua Street Jail.

1945
The State Legislature passes Chapter 658, which creates a uniform retirement law for all public employees.

1950s
The office moves to 88 Broad Street, near Rowes Wharf.

1970s
The membership of the Teachers’ Retirement System doubles between 1958 and 1970, but the Commonwealth’s budget does not keep pace. The system struggles in this period. Because of budgetary and staffing constraints, bookkeeping and retirement processing suffers.

1975
Longtime MTRB staff member Mary Silva becomes Acting Secretary.

1977
New Executive Director Joel Goober works with Teachers’ Retirement Board Chairman John Kearney to improve the system.

1980s
The MTRB begins to turn around. By the start of the decade, some member records are computerized, some retirement functions are automated, and statements are on time.

After several more moves, the MTRB settles at One Ashburton Place, where it stays until 1995.

1984
Thomas Lussier becomes Executive Director. Lussier expands the MTRB’s mission to include education for members, a priority that remains in place today.

1988
The MTRB opens its first Western Regional Office, in Chicopee.

Due to an economic downturn, the Board’s budget is slashed by 15.5%, and staff is reduced by 35%. Governor Dukakis proposes eliminating the MTRB by incorporating it with other agencies.

1995
The MTRB’s main office moves to Canal Street.

2000
Our Western Regional Office moves to Springfield.

2001
“RetirementPlus,” which provides an enhanced benefit after 30 years of service—and increases the contribution rate to 11%—takes effect.

2002
The State Treasurer and State Auditor joined our Board.

2003
Joan Schloss becomes Executive Director and reaffirms the agency’s commitment to member education.

2006
The MTRB moves to One Charles Park in East Cambridge, and changes its name to the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System.

2007
MTRS membership surpasses the membership of the State Retirement System, and the MTRS becomes the largest of the Commonwealth’s then 105 retirement systems.

2011
Chapter 176 of the Acts of 2011, commonly known as “Pension Reform III,” is passed. Among many changes, the bill increases interest rates for certain types of service purchases, allows some retirees to receive credit for past maternity leaves, and, in order to ensure financial security of the system for future generations, creates a second Membership Tier that provides lesser benefits for new members.

2014
The MTRS celebrates its 100th anniversary.

By a unanimous vote, the Board appoints Erika Glaster as the agency’s ninth Executive Director

2016
The main office moves from Cambridge to Charlestown’s Hood Park, the former headquarters of New England dairy company H.P. Hood.

2019
The MTRS proudly celebrates 105 years of service to Massachusetts educators—including our now more than 161,000 active, inactive and retired members and their beneficiaries! As part of our 105th anniversary celebration, we were honored to interview Mary Madden, a 105 year-old MTRS retiree.