17K Mich. teachers retire under plan

Taking advantage of retirement incentives offered by amendments to the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System, or MPSERS, 17,063 school employees across 95 percent of school districts filed to retire before the June 11 deadline, according to a press release Friday from Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s office.

The number is more than three times the yearly average, but lower than the 27,500 retirees predicted by analyses by the nonpartisan state House and Senate fiscal agencies.

About 55,000 employees were eligible to retire under the plan.

About 15,000 new jobs likely will be created in the state following the retirements, and these positions could be filled by recent college graduates, said Kathryn Summers, an analyst with the Senate Fiscal Agency.

The retirements will create a first-year savings of $515 million for individual school districts across the state, according to the release.