Lawmakers want to help retired teachers return to work

Published: April 13, 2022

By: Margaret DeLaney, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE–The Senate Retirement Committee advanced a bill to make it easier financially for retired teachers to come back to work to help ease statewide shortages.

Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, the sponsor of the bill, said it addresses the shortage of teachers and other personnel. Mathematics, science, English, language arts and special education have all been identified as areas with shortages that require certified teachers.

Current law suspends retirement benefits for many teachers who return to work depending on when they retired.

Fields’ bill would expand the number of certified teachers in any subject area who could return without losing retirement pay. That would include any who retired before July 1, 2020.

Meanwhile, the House Education Committee advanced a bill Wednesday to maintain a database with training courses and requirements teachers must complete to become certified. The new database would allow new and experienced teachers to keep track of new regulations for professional certifications.