“Our students deserve to be taught by the best possible educators available to fill these special openings,” said Hughes, R-Montague. “It makes sense to encourage retired teachers to fill these gaps with their wealth of teaching experience and skill.”

House Bill 5261 permits retired teachers to be hired back in certain situations as long as they have been retired for one year or longer. This would apply specifically in situations where there is a lack of staff in specialized instruction such as special education or speech pathology. It also could apply to teaching STEM subjects - science, technology, engineering and math.

“The passage of this bill is important to all schools and 1.5 billion students in the state,” said David Sipka, Muskegon Area Intermediate School District superintendent. It allows quality teachers to be placed in classrooms each day. We sincerely thank Rep. Hughes for her tireless work that she did in securing passage of this legislation.”

The bill now goes to the governor for his signature.