Pension change lures many teachers out of retirement

Associated Press

LEAVENWORTH — More than 400 teachers and 55 school administrators are back on the job in Washington this year — returning to work after retirement under a new state law designed to help ease the state’s teacher shortage.

Jim Furman, who retired in June 2000 and found a new line of work as a tennis pro at a Las Vegas resort, is one of them. He’s back at Cascade High School, back at the job he’d held for 17 years — teaching migrant and bilingual students and Spanish classes.

It wasn’t what he’d planned. But when he visited his old hometown last summer, district officials asked if he’d like to apply for his old job after the recently hired replacement backed out.

The offer was attractive, Furman said, because the new law — it took effect July 1 — lets districts hire retired teachers with no loss in pension benefits, with salaries that match their experience.

There are no continuing contracts for these educators, only year-to-year deals. But that’s fine with Furman.

"We’re enjoying the fact that I get my salary and pension and my insurance is paid," he said.

The state’s teacher shortage was caused partly by natural attrition. Many school staff had reached retirement age. Also, many teachers hired in the 1960s and ’70s say they were enrolled in a pension plan that penalizes them for working more than 30 years.

"The intent was to fill the gaps we’re having with teachers and administrators," said state Rep. Mike Armstrong, R-Wenatchee, who worked on the bill during the last legislative session. "This provides a financial incentive for the teachers and the districts get qualified teachers."

Cascade Superintendent Howard Cook, whose district hired Furman and two other retirees, said the new law let him fill staff positions that otherwise might stay vacant.

"A lot of people between 50 and 60 years old have put in 30 years of service and are leaving," Cook said. "It’s a brain drain, if you will, and the short term fix is retire/rehire."

Cook plugged another of his openings with Doug McComas, who taught in the Wenatchee School District for 31 years before retiring in 1997. McComas worked as a substitute teacher the following academic year, then served as president of the Wenatchee Education Association for the next two years.

"I missed the routine and I missed being with the kids," said McComas, who this fall began working part-time, teaching reading, geography and language arts to seventh-graders at Icicle River Middle School. "I really enjoy the interaction with the kids and the feeling that I’m doing something worthwhile."

Many of the state’s school districts consider the new law an important tool they can use to keep classrooms staffed — especially in Western Washington school districts, hardest hit by the shortage. Almost 30 teachers in the Burien area’s Highline School District were hired under the program.

But some districts in north central Washington have taken a more conservative approach.

"I think there is some school board and community resistance to this, I think because we haven’t felt the teacher crunch here as they have on the other side," said Elizabeth Cattin, the president of the Eastmont Education Association.

Wenatchee Superintendent Brian Flones said his district decided to wait and see how the program played out elsewhere this year.

"The language was kind of unclear about how it works," he said. "We wanted to get some clear definition from OSPI (Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction) first."

But that could change.

Gene Sharratt, superintendent of the North Central Educational Service District, said administrative jobs — superintendents, high school principals — and specialty positions such as speech therapists, special education and bilingual teachers are becoming harder and harder to replace.

"I think it’s (retire/rehire) going to be used more and more as time goes by," said Okanogan Superintendent Richard Johnson. "I wouldn’t be surprised if the numbers doubled next year."

Paying experienced teachers is more expensive than hiring rookies. But experienced teachers can hit the ground running — and rookies aren’t qualified for some jobs.

The retire/rehire law requires educators to be retired for at least 30 days before they can be rehired, and no rehire deals can be struck beforehand.

Both Armstrong and Rep. Clyde Ballard said they would push to clarify that language if it’s necessary.

"If somebody retires and there is a need for a teacher, that’s great, but you can’t cut a deal in advance," Ballard said. "It is illegal to do that."

Bill Kneadler, who retired from his job as vice principal at Eastmont High School last summer, said he’s willing to take his chances with year-to-year contracts. He and his wife, Karen, a kindergarten teacher, probably would have moved to another state if he hadn’t been rehired, Kneadler said.

"The district can open your job up and see who applies, and I imagine they’d hire the more qualified candidate," Kneadler said. "Sometimes that might be you and sometimes it might not."

Kneadler said his pension benefits would have decreased if he had not retired.