This seven-section report examines the pension-related behavior of older public employees, particularly California teachers. Section I introduces the benefit option situation. Section II surveys previous studies focusing on the relationship between Social Security wealth and the probability of retirement. Section III describes the California State Teachers' Retirement System, notes incentives offered by local districts, and suggests trends toward early retirement. Section IV outlines a theoretical framework that views the employee as a "utility maximizer." Section V presents the approach taken and defines variables, several of which were not included in previous studies: eligibility for other pensions, spouse's earnings, and job characteristics. Section VI discusses results, including the tendency of the private pensions to induce earlier retirement, and the association of good health with delayed retirement. A final section offers implications, followed by a bibliography and appendix. (KS)