As Texas school districts scramble to hire teachers, this 2021 law is in the way

Woods said the 2021 rules have made it about $8,000 to $10,000 more expensive per year for a school district to hire a teacher out of retirement. That estimate was for Northside ISD, as it could differ around the state. He estimated that the district needs to fill about 200 teaching positions.

“That has actually been a cause for concern for many districts because that is a new cost that they shared in the past or didn’t have to pay at all. Now that they’re paying it, they’re a bit reluctant to hire retirees into those positions. That’s something that is a policy issue that I know many of you are aware of, and we look forward to working with you on it this session,” Guthrie said.

Those hires were therefore draining resources from the pension system, which relies on contributions from working teachers to keep it solvent. So in the mid-2000s, the Legislature created a “surcharge” fee that had to be paid for retired teachers returning to work. That fee covered the pension contributions that would be missed, and the cost would be negotiated and shared between the teacher and the district.

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More Texas school districts considering 4-day school weeksThe 50 districts across the state that are switching to a 4-day week say it's a way to attract and retain teachers. But some experts say it is an experiment that could backfire. The school day is already too long for Prek to 2nd. As a teacher of littles, I would hate this! Little kids would too. Public school is “free” daycare for kids with parents who commute to work 5 days a week. I see this going wrong in a hurry. Shallow thinkers or don’t give a damn-ers? As a school bus driver, this could be a good or a bad thing. Some single parent households would REALLY struggle to find childcare for that and other days they have to work.
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