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Inventory of the State Teachers' Retirement System Records
F3919:1-71
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Table of contents
Title: State Teachers' Retirement System records,
Date (inclusive): 1920-1988
Collection number: F3919:1-71
Creator:
State Teachers' Retirement System
Extent:
3.5 cubic feet
Repository:
California State Archives
Sacramento, California
Abstract: This record group consists of subject files of the California State Teachers' Retirement System, including information on
its method of organization, its rules, and members' benefits.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication
is given on behalf of the California State Archives as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility
for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives
collections.
[Identification of item], State Teachers' Retirement System records, F3919:1-71, California State Archives, Office of the
Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.
The California State Archives acquired the State Teachers' Retirement System Records in a series of transfers according to
state law.
In 1913, a retirement system known as the Public School Teachers' Retirement Salary Fund and Permanent Fund was established
under Chapter 694. The system's purpose was to provide retirement salaries to public school teachers who were involved in
and planned to retire from the California state school system. The Retirement Salary Fund Board was in charge of administering
the benefit programs of the retirement system and the funds associated with them. This Board was one of the functions of the
State Board of Education. Not until 1963 did the system's controlling board become independent of the Department of Education.
From 1916 to 1935, the retirement agency's funds dwindled due to the agency's reliance on inheritance tax as its major source
of revenue. Because the system's funding was too low to supply its members with beneficial pensions, teachers began to lose
the incentive for contributing as members to this agency. Then, in 1935, the new Annuity Deposit Fund was added to the retirement
program. It collected additional funds from the teachers for investment purposes. Members had to contribute as additional
4% of their salary to this new fund, and the benefit they received was life annuity based on their own accumulated contributions.
This record group consists of subject files of the California State Teachers Retirement System, including information on its
method of organization, its rules, and members' benefits. The subject files include correspondence with assemblymembers,
governors, superintendents of schools, and organizations such as the California Teachers Association. The material also includes
debates over benefits given to members. The Teachers Retirement Board controlled the agency. Board members, most often the
Chief Executive Officer, attended other organizational meetings such as those of the CTA or the California Retired Teachers
Association, from whom they received opinions and proposals on changes that should have been made in STRS. Financial records
are prominent throughout the files, especially investment records. Meeting minutes, pamphlets and newspaper articles that
mention STRS are also included.
The following terms have been associated with these materials in the Archives'
automated public access system (currently in development, December 2004).
Retired Teachers
California Teachers Association
State Teachers' Retirement System