Missouri has a shortage of teachers, and the state Legislature has passed a bill that looks to indirectly address that. The bill from Sen. Rusty Black, R-Chillicothe, modifies the state retirement system to allow retired teachers or non-certified employees to work up to four years full-time.
“Senate Bill 75 is something I’ve been working on for four years,” he said. “It’s really a fix to something that I made a change to in 2018 as a state representative. Everybody was on board and thought it was good. And then when it became law, we found out there were unintended consequences.”
Black hopes that Gov. Mike Parson signs off on the bill because it incentivizes teachers to continue working.
“If you will stay in the classroom for 32 years, your retirement multiplier, which ultimately ends up being your check in retirement, will be a little bit higher,” he explained. “It also allows those retired teachers to go work around school systems and non-teaching positions.”
Black, who spent over 30 years in a classroom, said that despite what the Legislature has done to benefit teachers, including temporarily raising their salary, he thinks more can be done to address teacher shortages in Missouri.
Senate Bill 75 awaits a decision from the governor, who has until the middle of July to do so.
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