I Hate Retired Teachers

Ms. B, our old PE teacher, came by the school for a visit the other day. She looked 20 years younger than she did when she left; the satisfaction was palpable as she told us of the joys of sleeping in, not doing report cards, spending your time the way you want to—the retired life.

Bah, humbug.

That’s jealousy talking, of course. After 30+ years in the system she’s entitled to every happiness that the TRS affords her; I hope to tread that same path myself in 25 years or so.

The October 2007 issue of the ASCD’s Education Update newsletter has an article about how retirees are staying active after leaving the classroom. It talks about some of their fears (the rising costs of health care, pensions that don’t keep up with inflation, missing the joys of the job) before moving into the joys (less stress, more chance to follow passions, flexibility). Also, some websites for retired teachers:

The American Federation of Teachers
NEA Retired
AARP Educator Support Network
AARP Retired Teacher Association

For Washington State teachers, it’s always a good idea to check out the Department of Retirement Systems website periodically. The retirement calculators are fun to play with, if you’re in the right frame of mind. For more information, try this post that I wrote for our union website—it’ll walk you through the process.

The last bit of retiree news comes via Eduwonk—a new study on the pitfalls of teacher pensions. It’s the usual—more portability, less guaranteed money, it’s really in the teachers’ best interests if we put it in the stock market, yada yada—but it may be of interest to those who are really interested in pension policy.

Always remember, every day is one day closer to the end!