HB599: HB599 Teachers Retirement System of Georgia; employ certain beneficiaries as classroom teachers in a full-time capacity; extend program

Georgia law currently lets public school systems employ retired teachers with 30 years of service as full-time classroom teachers in an 'area of highest need,' meaning subjects with the highest share of unfilled teaching positions in their region, but only through June 30, 2026. House Bill 599 extends that window to June 30, 2030. The bill also pushes back related deadlines: the Department of Education must keep reporting each region's areas of highest need to the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia annually through July 1, 2029 (instead of 2025), and the state auditor's required performance audit of the program, which looks at its value, costs, and effects on schools and the teacher workforce, must happen before July 1, 2029 (instead of 2025). Rehired teachers stay classified as retirees, keep receiving their pension, and do not earn additional creditable service, while employers must pay both employer and employee contribution rates on their pay.

• Extends the deadline for the full-time retired-teacher rehiring program under O.C.G.A. § 47-3-127.1 from June 30, 2026 to June 30, 2030.
• Pushes back the deadline for the Department of Education's annual reporting of 'areas of highest need' to the retirement system from July 1, 2025 to July 1, 2029.
• Delays the state auditor's required performance audit of the program from before July 1, 2025 to before July 1, 2029.
• Leaves unchanged the core rules: rehired retirees must have 30 years of creditable service, keep their pension without earning new creditable service, and employers must pay combined employer and employee contribution rates on their pay.

Retired teachers with at least 30 years of service who might return to full-time classroom work, public school systems and Regional Educational Service Agencies (RESAs) that hire them, the Department of Education, the Professional Standards Commission, the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia, and the state auditor's office.

Without this extension, public school systems would lose the option to rehire experienced retired teachers full time in hard-to-staff subjects after June 30, 2026. The extension keeps that staffing tool available through 2030 and delays the state's formal review of whether the program is working.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 47-3-127.1 to change the program's end date from June 30, 2026 to June 30, 2030.
• Rehired beneficiaries must have 30 years of creditable service, work full time as a pre-K through grade 12 certified teacher, and teach in an area of highest need for their assigned RESA.
• Employers must notify the board of trustees within 30 days of hiring a beneficiary, including pay, hours, and job duties.
• Employers must pay the retirement system an amount equal to combined employer and employee contribution rates applied to the beneficiary's pay; unpaid amounts can be deducted from state funds owed to the employer.
• The Department of Education, after consulting the Professional Standards Commission, must determine each RESA's areas of highest need annually and report them to the retirement system through July 1, 2029 (extended from 2025).
• The state auditor must complete a performance audit of the program's value and effects before July 1, 2029 (extended from 2025).
• Section 2 repeals all conflicting laws.

1. 2025-02-27House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-26House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-24House Hopper (House)

• Sandy Donatucci (R, HD-105)Primary sponsor
• Shaw Blackmon (R, HD-146)
• Chris Erwin (R, HD-032)
• Ginny Ehrhart (R, HD-036)
• Deborah Silcox (R, HD-053)

• teacher retirement
• teacher shortages
• public school staffing
• Teachers Retirement System of Georgia
• education policy