La. teachers retiring in high numbers
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana teachers are continuing to retire at higher-than-usual numbers — more than 7,500 in the last two years.
The number of retirements in 2013 increased from the 24 percent increase last year.
Dana Vicknair, assistant director at Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana, tells The Advocate (http://bit.ly/173IRYy ) the figure is up about 1,000 from what they would normally see.
"These are people walking out the door. ... These people are actually gone."
State Superintendent of Education John White said the exodus should be looked at as primarily a financial decision on the part of more veteran employees.
But school superintendents also said the decision has a lot to do with changes occurring in the classroom, including new teacher evaluations pushed by the Jindal administration, which one educator said created "a tipping point."
White said there is not an increase in the number of people leaving the classroom.
"These are the more veteran employees who are leaving in higher numbers," White said. "This is about retirement policies not just about education policies ... not just a classroom decision. People are doing what's right for them and their families."
White noted the increase in retirements began as administration pension policy changes impacting benefits and retirement age were being debated for state employees.
There are some 50,000 Louisiana public school teachers.
TRSL registered 3,871 retirements in the fiscal year ending June 30. Of those, 3,415 worked in kindergarten through 12th grade.
Last year, when the 24 percent jump occurred, there were 3,295 public school employees out of 3,724 Teachers' system retirements — more than 700 more than the prior year.
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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com
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