Education Week reported this year on the unintended consequences in states that are luring retirees back to the classroom as a means to address teacher shortages. Some worry that policies allowing retirees to draw pension benefits while receiving full pay will encourage a mass exodus of early retirees. Others believe that retirees are straining an already overburdened pension system by pulling salaries and benefits from a system they don't have to pay into once they have retired. This can cause tension between returning retirees and younger teachers who see retirees as "double dipping" into scarce education funds. Contracting with outside companies that hire retirees as consultants and pay their benefits is one way for schools to get around some of the added expenses rehires may pose.
Each state negotiates its own set of guidelines for rehired retirees, so it's important that retirees talk to their district human resources representative or local union and retired teacher association chapters to learn the implications of different re-employment routes. Several groups have Web sites targeted specifically to retired educators:
- AFT Retirees - www.aft.org.retirement
- NEA Retired - www.nea.org/retired
- AARP's Educator Support Network - www.aarp.org/about_aarp/nrta/nrta_programs/esn_index.html
- AARP's index of retired teacher associations www.aarp.org/about_aarp/nrta/ed_associations
There is the potential that returning retirees could further strain already tight state budgets, but there are costs and benefits on both sides of the equation. Retiring educators at the top of the pay scale often make significantly less in their new appointments, lose tenure rights, often do not continue to accumulate pension benefits, and must survive on pension payments that many say do not adequately cover future health care needs.
Education Week's report concludes that, ultimately, bringing retired teachers back to the classroom is a short-term fix to the teacher shortage. In the long term, it will be successful only if it is part of a larger effort to improve school staffing.