HB 599: Teachers Retirement System of Georgia; employ certain beneficiaries as classroom teachers in a full-time capacity; extend program

Since 2022, Georgia law has allowed public school systems to hire certain retired teachers back as full-time classroom teachers in subjects with the greatest staffing shortages, without those retirees losing their Teachers Retirement System of Georgia pension. That program was set to expire June 30, 2026. House Bill 599 pushes that expiration date to June 30, 2030. The bill also extends related deadlines tied to the program: the annual reporting of 'areas of highest need' by the Department of Education, previously required through July 1, 2025, would now continue through July 1, 2029. It also pushes back the deadline for the state auditor to complete a performance audit evaluating the program's value and effects on schools, the retirement system, and the teacher workforce, from July 1, 2025 to July 1, 2029. No other terms of the rehiring program, such as the 30-years-of-service requirement or employer contribution rules, are changed.

• Extends the deadline for public school systems to rehire eligible retired teachers full time under this program from June 30, 2026 to June 30, 2030.
• Pushes back the deadline for the Department of Education's annual reporting of subject areas with the highest teacher shortages from July 1, 2025 to July 1, 2029.
• Delays the state auditor's required performance audit of the rehiring program from July 1, 2025 to July 1, 2029.
• Leaves unchanged the underlying eligibility rules, such as requiring 30 years of creditable service and at least one year since retirement before rehire.

Retired Georgia public school teachers with at least 30 years of service who want to return to full-time classroom teaching, local public school systems facing shortages in high-need subject areas, the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia, the Department of Education, and the state auditor's office.

Retired teachers eligible under this program could keep working full time in classrooms in shortage subjects while still collecting their pensions for four more years, giving school districts a longer window to fill hard-to-staff positions before the program and its required evaluations expire.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 47-3-127.1 to change the program's end date from June 30, 2026 to June 30, 2030.
• Section 1 extends the annual 'area of highest need' reporting requirement for RESAs (Regional Educational Service Agencies) from ending July 1, 2025 to ending July 1, 2029.
• Section 1 delays the state auditor's required performance audit evaluating the program's costs and benefits from before July 1, 2025 to before July 1, 2029.
• Section 1 keeps in place existing rules that rehired beneficiaries do not earn additional creditable service and that employers must pay combined employer and employee contribution rates on their earnable compensation.
• Section 2 repeals any 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-32)
• Ginny Ehrhart (R, HD-36)
• Deborah Silcox (R, HD-53)

• teacher shortages
• public school staffing
• teacher retirement
• education policy