MECOSTA COUNTY — Recognizing legislative efforts that now allow retired educators to return to classrooms during teacher shortages, the Michigan Association of Retired School Personnel lauded Public Act 267 and one of its champions, Sen. Rick Outman, R-Six Lakes.
Outman accepted MARSP’s “Joe Curtin Legislative Advocacy Award” for his leadership on the 2020 legislation (HB 4694), which expanded opportunities for public school retirees to fill critical substitute teaching shortages.
“Coming from a family of educators, I hear about the issues and challenges they face every day,” Outman explained. “Including the lack of bodies to fill positions for teachers, bus drivers, custodians, cooks and others. It’s a big issue and although this legislation doesn’t fix everything, it’s a good first step and we know we need to continue the conversation.”
Outman was elected to the Michigan Senate in 2018 representing the 33rd District which includes Clare, Gratiot, Isabella, Mecosta and Montcalm counties. Prior to that, he was a member of the Michigan House, elected in 2010 to serve the 70th District until 2016 when his term expired. Outman is the owner of Outman Excavating and is a veteran of the U.S. Army.
Since 2010, restrictions in state law prevented thousands of recently-retired, qualified retirees from serving part-time to help out their local school district. For more than a decade, schools struggled to hire sufficient numbers of school personnel. The pandemic exacerbated the problem.
“Public Act 267 is a significant step forward in eliminating unnecessary and complicated language in the MPSERS Act,” explained Georgia Sharp, Co-Chair of MARSP’s Legislative Committee. “Sen. Outman helped lead the effort to pursue a common sense and long term fix to the problem instead of the ‘band-aid’ fixes which had been applied in the past.”
“MARSP members truly appreciate legislative efforts that have increased schools’ access to a talent pool to help fill vacancies,” Sharp explained. “Our members are experienced individuals who make a difference in students’ lives. While the law will not eliminate Michigan’s teacher shortage, which existed before the pandemic, it is an important step and demonstrates that the public policy process is effective.”
The new law addresses a problem that has affected thousands of K-12 students statewide. Outdated restrictions in prior law (PA 300) prevented districts from using retirees to fill such positions, even on a short-term basis. The revised law allowed districts to hire personnel who have been retired for less than one year for a critical shortage position or if the district was operating under an extended COVID-19 learning plan in the 2020-21 school year.
Otherwise, the 12-month waiting period before retirees can return to work in a district remains in effect, but the pool of available retirees will no longer be subject to an arbitrary date of retirement as in years past. Over the years, exemptions to the law and other rule changes became confusing and sometimes caused retirees to lose pension benefits.
“We were proud to join school groups across the state in support of Sen. Outman’s efforts,” said MARSP Legislative Committee Co-Chair Chuck Abshagen. “This award is named to honor the late Joe Curtin, former co-chair of our committee, who was dedicated to serving the interests of retired school personnel statewide. On behalf of the more than 35,000 MARSP members, we applaud Sen. Outman and his colleagues in the Legislature.”
MARSP is a statewide association of more than 35,000 public school retirees who rely on state-provided pensions and health care.
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October 30, 2021 at 12:04AM
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