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10,000 school workers, most in 7 years, retire
Friday, July 30, 1999 By Eleanor Chute, Post-Gazette Education Writer
School administrators must fill the highest number of school openings created by retirements in seven years.
The state Public School Employees' Retirement System this week reported that 10,083 school employees retired between July 1, 1998 and June 30, 1999. The list covers a wide range of employees, including administrators, teachers, custodians and bus drivers.
The retirees include at least 3,672 who used the early retirement window that expired at the end of June. With this window, those who retired with 30 years of service weren't penalized for retiring before age 62.
There are 1,457 retirements that haven't been categorized yet by the state and 187 that haven't been processed by local districts.
The total also includes at least 3,103 regular retirements; 1,050 with at least 10 years of service but who didn't meet the requirements for regular or early retirement; 318 disability retirements; and 296 who retired who were at least 55 years old and had 25 years of service The retirement system does not have these numbers broken down by job category.
The retirements surpassed every recent year since 1992-93 when 12,258 people retired under a more attractive retirement window. More recently, 7,279 retired in 1997-98, and 9,787 retired in 1996-97.
David Devare, director of research services for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, didn't have any data on how the retirements were affecting school districts. But he's heard concerns about getting good replacements for principals who retired.
He said there doesn't appear to be a shortage of applicants for elementary teaching positions, but he hears "rumblings of problems around math and science."
"My guess is it is going to be a district-to-district variable." He said high-paying districts may have less difficulty filling positions than low-paying ones.
Filling some support positions, such as custodians and secretaries, will depend on the local labor market, he said. "To the extent that businesses are having trouble filling those positions, school districts may also have trouble. Those jobs pay usually at or just above comparable wages in the private sector," he said.
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