ATLANTA (AP) — Some retired Georgia teachers could return to teaching full-time while continuing to receive state pensions under a bill finally approved by the state Senate on Tuesday.
Senators voted 50-1 for House Bill 385 and sent it to Governor Brian Kemp to sign into law. The Republican governor proposed the bill last year as part of a package to increase the number of teachers statewide.
Under the measure, teachers with 30 years of service could return to teaching after at least 12 months of retirement and receive both a full salary and their pension.
“This law benefits the retired teacher, our students, the pension system and rural Georgia,” said Sen. Russ Goodman, a Cogdell Republican. “This helps school systems to fill vacancies in high-need areas with qualified and experienced teachers.”
Districts could hire retired teachers in three areas of greatest need, identified by the state Department of Education in different regions of the state. Goodman said the state’s professional standards commission, which licenses teachers, has found that 4,000 positions across the country are currently being filled by teachers teaching outside their specialty, long-term substitutes, or someone graduating.
The district pays both the normal employer contribution of 19.98% of an employee’s salary and the 6% contribution that a teacher normally makes to the teachers’ pension scheme. Buster Evans, the pension fund’s executive director, said this contribution recognizes that a returning retiree is likely to fill a position that would otherwise be held by a teacher who contributes to the pension fund.
The law would be in effect for four years from July 1, with the state auditor issuing a report on its effectiveness in 2025.
Kemp proposed the measure last year as part of a broader package to increase teacher numbers. The version approved by the Senate on Tuesday, which requires 30 years of service and at least one year of retirement, is narrower than what Kemp originally wanted. The restrictions aim to allay concerns from some lawmakers that a wave of teachers could doubly slump by retiring and immediately returning to work.
Georgia doesn’t suffer from the severe teacher shortages of some other states, but experts say it’s still a problem as enrollment in normal schools is falling.
Currently, teachers can return to working part-time and earn up to 49% of their regular salary while continuing to receive a pension. There are now about 2,500 such teachers, Evans said. He said any part-time retiree who meets the other requirements would be eligible to return full-time and still receive their pension.
It is unclear how many teachers would attend. Evans said a similar program about a decade ago only included about 2,000 teachers and administrators statewide before the state scrapped it, but he said that law was more restrictive. There are also about 2,900 teachers and administrators still working with more than 30 years of service, but Evans said not all could retire and return.
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