EASTON — Despite a lot of talk across Pennsylvania about a looming pension crisis, with school districts saying the rate hikes they face will mean decimated services and higher taxes, there is no consensus among officials, teachers and taxpayers about how to solve the problem.

School districts over the next five years are expected to see the amount of money they pay into the Public School Employees' Retirement System balloon from 4.78 percent of payroll to almost 34 percent in 2014-2015. For a large district like Bethlehem Area, that will mean a jump from $7.5 million to $32.1 million, officials said.

School districts argue they can't swallow the upcoming rate hike without cutting services or raising taxes. Taxpayers are unhappy at the prospect of making up pension fund losses when their own retirement funds have been depleted. But teachers argue that a pension is important to attract and keep good teachers in the commonwealth.

The Pennsylvania School Board Association, meanwhile, is asking state lawmakers to change the retirement benefits for new hires in the system.

"We don't think the current defined benefit plan is sustainable," association executive director Thomas Gentzel said. Defined benefit plans guarantee retirees an annual pension calculated on longevity, salary and when they entered the system.

The proposal creates a hybrid retirement benefit for new hires that combines the current defined benefit plan, with changes to how the benefit is calculated and vesting with an individual annuity savings account.

State Sen. Pat Browne, who chairs the Senate finance committee, calls the proposal an improvement, but says it doesn't go far enough and favors eliminating defined benefit plans for new hires.

He prefers a defined contribution plan, in which workers and employees contribute a set amount but the benefit depends on investment performance.

The Pennsylvania State Education Association, which represents teachers, opposes the proposal in the Legislature and the idea of moving to defined contribution plans.

"The defined benefit is incredibly stable and you will bring in better employees because it is a better benefit," says Kevin Deely, president of the Easton Area Education Association.

Browne, however, argues that a defined contribution plan combined with Social Security would match a person's take-home pay.

Gentzel says the idea is to create more predictability, reduce the risk to taxpayers and control employer pension contributions.

The hybrid plan caps the school district contribution, requiring the state to make up the rest.

Browne said any changes to the benefit system must be part of a package that addresses the upcoming spike.

"There needs to be a liability management plan," Browne said. "To just kick the can down the road and manage the liability without recognizing what is happening is plan redesign. It is not reform."