A bill the Virginia General Assembly sent to Gov. Glenn Youngkin would allow retired teachers, bus drivers, and administrators to return to work six months after they retire.
The measure reduces the time the retired teachers would have to wait to come back to the classroom by six months, while still continuing to receive their retirement allowance under the Virginia Retirement System.
House Bill 1630 also “adds specialized student support positions to the list of employees that may return to work, also with a six month break in service.”
The aim of the bill is to ease Virginia’s teacher and bus driver shortages.
A Joint Legislative Audit and Review report released in November found that more teachers are leaving the workforce than are entering it.
“The gap between the number of teachers departing the workforce and the number of newly licensed teachers entering the workforce is now the largest during the time period reviewed (2014–15 to 2021–22),” the report said. “Prior to the pandemic, the annual gap was about 1,250 teachers on average (9,750 teachers leaving versus 8,485 newly licensed teachers). As of last year it had grown to more than 3,500 (10,900 teachers leaving vs. 7,200 newly licensed teachers).”
The measure has the support of the Virginia School Boards Association and the Virginia Association of School Superintendents.
The bill would sunset for all classes of employees on July 1, 2028.
The governor is reviewing the final legislation, his office said.
Feature image courtesy Rido/stock.adobe.com
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