Christie administration said they will not pursue further pension, benefit changes for those who do not leave by Aug. 1
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Gov. Chris Christie at the Statehouse in Trenton in this March 2010 file photo.
TRENTON — The Christie administration today backed off plans to prompt public school teachers to retire early, saying it will not pursue further pension and benefits changes for those who do not leave by Aug. 1.
Spokesmen for the governor’s office and Department of Education said the administration will not immediately propose reforms affecting current teachers other than Gov. Chris Christie’s proposed 33-bill "toolkit" to help schools and towns cut costs.
Previously, Education Commissioner Bret Schundler said the state would make more changes but exempt veteran teachers who retired before Aug. 1 — leading to forecasts of mass retirements far beyond the 4,500 teachers who leave in a typical year.
Saying retirements could help offset layoffs occurring in districts around the state, officials pitched a plan that included calculating pensions based on a teacher’s last five years of salary instead of three, rolling back a 9 percent increase in pension benefits granted in 2001 and basing health care contributions on a percentage of premium, not salary.
Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said the governor is still committed to those reforms — but they won’t be in place in time for the coming school year.
"The reforms are coming; there’s no doubt about that," he said. "But we cannot get it all done at once, particularly as we work on getting a budget in place."
Alan Guenther, a spokesman for Schundler, said the state does not anticipate "wholesale retirements" because of changes that have already become law — including requiring teachers to pay at least 1.5 percent of their salary towards health benefits.
With additional reforms, Schundler had predicted about 13,000 teachers might retire by Aug. 1. The New Jersey Education Association teachers union warned of 30,000 departures and "irreparable damage to every school system in the state."
NJEA spokesman Steve Wollmer today said without further changes, about 6,500 teacher retirements are likely this summer — combined with thousands of layoffs due to budget cuts. He said Christie’s talk of big changes created "panic" and led to "unnecessary early retirements of talented teachers."
"This governor has people convinced that he’s capable of just about anything, so forgive them if they took him seriously," Wollmer said.
Frank Belluscio, spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association, said retirements give districts "flexibility" to bring back others who got pink slips. "Without a doubt, there’s going to be fewer teachers working in the public schools next year," he said.
Muhlstock said the repreive gives her a chance to test out a new classroom gig after Teaneck cut her librarian position.
"If I have a few more months, then since I don’t wish to retire, I’ll probably try it and see how it goes," she said.
Lisa Fleisher contributed to this report.
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