Recently a Patriot mentioned to me that New Berlin WI teachers are retiring and then getting rehired by the New Berlin School District. They are allegedly retiring because of Gov. Walker’s “gutting” of their collective bargaining rights. Supposedly, they are afraid they will lose pension and health benefits under the Walker administration, and their benefits will cost them more. The Patriot suggested that this could not possibly be true and asked me to look into it. And so I did. Here’s the truth.The practice is common, is not limited to New Berlin, is not limited to WI, and is not limited to teachers. It is happening in almost every state and involves all types of government workers and has been going on for years.
In Wisconsin there was a 92% increase in public employees retiring over the same period last year. The most cited reason for “early retirement” was “to avoid paying more for health and retirement benefits.” Last year 841 WI public employees, including teachers and administrators, retired and were immediately rehired – double-dipping to the max.
Baltimore, Maryland – 13 principals retired one day with full retirement benefits and were rehired the next day earning full wages and benefits.
Deer Park, Ohio – 4 teachers and administrators retired with full retirement benefits and were rehired to next day earning full wages and benefits.
Fort Kent, Maine – superintendant retires and gets rehired the next day citing changes to the state’s retirement system as his reason for “retiring.”
Salon, Ohio – 12 teachers retire one day, are rehired the next day, but thanks to Ohio State Teacher Retirement rules, these new “rehires” cannot start their “rehired” job until Sept. 1 or they would take a hit on their retirement benefits. When Ohio schools started the last week in August, guess how the school district had to fill those 12 classrooms? They had to hire substitute teachers for the first week of the school year. First graders, kindergarteners, special education students, science, social studies, German, Spanish, in all of these classes and more, the students did not meet their “real” teacher until after 9/1. Pardon Me?? A substitute teacher for the entire first week of school? This sounds like “it’s for the kids,” doesn’t it? Of course, this “rule” was negotiated by the Ohio Teachers’ Union in their contract.
Hartford, CN – A college chancellor retires on day 1 and is retired on day 2, boosting his income by 40%.
Seattle, WA – 2,000 public employees are collecting government wages and government pensions at the same time after retiring and rehiring.
The practice is known as double-dipping and is common practice throughout the country and in all areas of government employment despite some states prohibiting it. While the rules vary from state to state, the states that do say “no” most often do not enforce their own laws against it. The “rehirees” increase their income by anywhere from 25% – 75%, overnight, just by saying “I retire.”
