Dec. 28—JACKSON — A Northeast Mississippi lawmaker wants to help solve teacher shortages by allowing retired teachers to go back into classrooms and still keep their retirement benefits.
Rep. Jody Steverson, R-Ripley, told the Daily Journal that he will file a bill during the 2023 legislative session to allow retired public school teachers to sign a one-year contract with a school district, earn a first-year teacher salary and still earn 70% of their retirement pay.
"The reason I'm doing this is I had one of my superintendents say the teacher shortage is so bad in their school district," Steverson said. "Typically, this district has 25 to 30 new applicants for elementary teachers each year, and he only had one applicant this time."
Teacher shortages have long been a problem in the Magnolia State.
Districts are not required to report teacher vacancies to state officials, but the Mississippi Department of Education conducted a survey in 2021 that concluded there were over 3,000 certified teacher vacancies in the state, which employs around 32,000 total teachers.
The department plans to release updated findings from a new teacher vacancy survey next month.
The intent of the Tippah County lawmaker's proposal is to entice retired teachers to come back into classrooms by allowing them to pool most of their retirement benefits and a salary together.
Employees under the Mississippi Public Employees' Retirement System can draw a certain percentage of their average salary from the highest four years of their employment, often referred to as the "high four."
Under Steverson's proposal, a teacher would keep 70% of the retirement pay and earn at least $41,500, which is the new base pay for a first-year teacher who has a bachelor's degree. If a teacher has other certifications, the pay could be more.
Steverson's idea would not allow teachers to use their combined income and retirement pay to get an increased retirement benefits. Instead, their "high four" would be frozen, and the teachers would be required to pay a salary percentage back into PERS.
"I don't see where it would be a strain on PERS because teachers would only be drawing 70% of their PERS benefits, and they would be paying back into PERS," Steverson said.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed off on a piece of legislation similar to Steverson's proposal this year that allows retired public teachers to re-enter classrooms and keep some of their retirement benefits.
Steverson said he has not talked with legislative leaders about his proposal, but he hopes to consult with them during the early parts of the 2023 session, which begins on January 3.