State has a deal for teachers to retire early

By Charles Sercombe

For some Hamtramck public school teachers and other staff members, summer vacation will be a time to think about retiring.

A new state teacher retirement plan has been adopted which will act as an incentive to encourage more teachers to retire. The hope is that more costly veteran teachers will take advantage of the deal to allow districts to save money by being able to hire new, less expensive teachers.

To sweeten the deal, the state will allow teachers to collect on average an extra $200 per month in their pension. To be eligible to retire, teachers must be at least 55 years old with 30 years of service or have their age and years of service add up to 80.

Hamtramck has approximately 103 employees who qualify, but he didn’t know how many qualify for which program. He said it’s unclear how much money – if any – the district would save if all 103 employees decide to retire.

The public school district is running a $1.7 million deficit but has a five-year plan to climb out of it.