School retirees

The intent of Missouri's "critical shortage" law, passed by the legislature three years ago, was to help school districts hire qualified teachers. By declaring a critical shortage of certified teachers, a district is allowed to hire a retired teacher for up to two years.

Eighty-one of the state's 524 school districts have at least one retired teacher in their employ. Only three districts in the state have the maximum allowed -- five retirees -- on the payroll. Jackson School District is one of those three.

In order to take advantage of the critical shortage law, a school district must demonstrate a "good faith effort" to fill a position with a teacher who is not retired.

The Jackson schools advertised its high school principal position on the district's Web site and by sending an e-mail to employees. Then it hired its retired principal.

In order to declare a critical shortage, the school district must determine that an insufficient number of eligible people have applied for the position. Superintendent Ron Anderson says no one applied for the job. The Public School and Education Employees Retirement System has said the Jackson schools appear to have satisfied the letter of the law.

The legislature already has amended the critical shortage law to prevent retired superintendents from being hired. Perhaps it's time to change the requirements for declaring a critical shortage. Meanwhile, the Jackson School Board has shown students how to take advantage of the system.