Highest paid educators to get extra year's pay if they step down this year or next

Record-Eagle staff writer

PETOSKEY—Farmers sometimes get paid not to farm, so why not pay teachers not to teach? Especially if paying a little bit now saves a lot in the long run.

The Petoskey School District announced an early retirement incentive Wednesday that would give the district's highest-salaried teachers an extra year's worth of pay if they retire this year or next.

"This plan will allow the district to save a considerable amount of money while permitting teachers to retire earlier and more securely than they had expected," said Superintendent John Jeffrey. "It will also bring in some new people and new ideas."

Even after paying for the extra salary, the school district stands to save $600,000 to $800,000 over the next 10 years if 10 to 13 teachers opt for the plan. The savings would come from the difference between paying salaries of about $55,000 for the most experienced teachers and the district's $28,552 starting salary.

Approximately 100 of Petoskey's 175 teachers have at least 10 years' experience in the district, thereby qualifying for the early retirement offer. Those who accept will receive $417 per month for the next 10 years, according to a school district press release issued Wednesday.

"Teachers would have to sever employment with the district this year if they have 30 or more years of experience, or next year if they have less than 30 years with the district," the district said. "This is a one-time plan which is not intended to be offered on a continuing basis."

While the incentive plan is a novel approach to saving the school district money, it is not unique.

According to Educators Preferred Corporation, a Southfield based severance plan consulting firm working for the school district; at least 50 Michigan districts have offered early-retirement buy outs to teachers. Nationwide, the company has set up similar plans for 140 schools and colleges.

The company charges $50 to $100 per teacher per year. If 10 teachers go for the early retirement, EPC makes about $7,500, said EPC vice president Tim Bell. The company sets up about 25 such plans a year.

About five years ago, 26 of 270 Mount Pleasant Public Schools teachers opted for a plan like the one Petoskey teachers have been offered, said Mount Pleasant Public Schools Business Manager Diane Block. The offer will save nearly $3.6 million.

Mount Pleasant Superintendent Robert Janson said the offer has had its pluses and minuses.

"It did what we thought it would do as far as reducing our labor cost," Janson said. "But the minuses were that we lost some darn good teachers. We feel we ended up with excellent replacements, though."

John McEwan, superintendent of Durand Public Schools near Flint, said he is pleased with the effects of the early retirement plan offered to his district's teachers last year. "I had 82 percent of my staff at the top of the pay scale, and employee costs are 80 percent of our budget," McEwan said.

McEwan said the downside of losing good teachers was not simply balanced by the financial savings to the district.