More, more teachers retired and rehired

Solon's superintendent earns 197,950 per year in addition to a state pension equal to about 88 percent of his salary.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- More than 13,000 retired teachers were back at work in Ohio classrooms during the last school year, a number that has grown 62 percent since the state changed retirement rules in 2000.
The greatest increase has come among educators who have been rehired at jobs paying more than 90,000 a year while also collecting a retirement pension, according to an analysis by The Columbus Dispatch. By last year, their number had jumped to 331, a 1,850 percent increase over the 17 teachers at the highest salary levels who were receiving pension checks in 2000.
That was the year state lawmakers voted to allow public employees to return to jobs within two months of retiring. Under the old rules, some had to wait a year and a half.
Shrinking pool
There are more highly paid educators in the retired-and-rehired category because the pool of qualified people who can run school districts appears to be shrinking, said Scott Ebright of the Ohio School Boards Association.
Two years ago, the Solon school board allowed Superintendent Joseph Regano to retire, then rehired him to a four-year contract.
Regano earns 197,950 per year in addition to a state pension equal to about 88 percent of his salary, making him the state education system's highest paid retiree, according to State Teachers Retirement System records, the Dispatch reported.
Local voters don't seem to mind, because the suburban Cleveland district is saving money, Solon school board President Margo Morrow said. Regano's 11,000 yearly health insurance premium is now picked up by the retirement fund.
However, the pension system's board voted earlier this year to require employers to provide health care to retired and rehired workers where possible, starting in 2009.