English teacher Bob MacFarland was not planning to retire this year, but if the State of Michigan gets its way, he may have to.
MacFarland is one of 39,000 teachers statewide and eight at Southfield High who would be negatively affected by proposed changes to the state’s retirement system.
House Bill 5953, sponsored by Bill Rogers would freeze retirement benefits for all teachers with more than 30 years of experience. The 220-page proposal would not give teachers credit toward retirement for any additional years of service. A teacher who currently has 32 years and chooses to work five additional years would receive retirement payments as if he or she worked only 32 years.
“This proposal is labeling older teachers as not valuable, and that’s just not true,” said MacFarland. “I’m not announcing my retirement, but the penalties on older workers are just too high to deal with.”
Physics teacher Jane Teska, who has 27 years of teaching experience, said, “There are a lot of things that have to be considered. The bill couldn’t have come at a worse time because things in the district are unclear. Teacher negotiations are going on right now, so no one knows what next year will be like.”
Besides MacFarland, other Southfield High teachers with 30 or more years who would be negatively affected by the change in policy include Band Director Thomas Miller, Culinary Arts teacher Maude Moore, Teacher Consultant Patricia Bonnington, social studies teacher Linda Kevorkian, Support Services teacher Robert Stoler and science teacher Craig Bonnington.
In addition to having their work years frozen, there are other incentives to get teachers with more than 30 years of experience to retire. Teachers who don’t retire before October 1, 2010, will lose their vision and dental coverage, according to the proposal.
Those teachers who do retire prior to the bill’s passage would receive a pension increase of six or seven percent.
The proposal is currently being debated by lawmakers and, if passed, would go into effect for the 2010-2011 school years.