Despite new pension law, thousands of retired California teachers are still paying for others’ mistakes

For years, the state agency that oversees California’s teacher pensions has clawed money back from nearly 10,000 retirees after discovering school districts — or the agency itself — had been miscalculating their pension packages.

A new law signed on Sept. 25 by Gov. Gavin Newsom expands protections for retired teachers, and further shields them from having to repay for those mistakes in the future. But it does nothing for former educators who don’t qualify for relief because the errors in their pensions were discovered before the cut-off point of the bill: January 2023.

“We still don’t know what a solution looks like, but we’re very concerned about the issue,” said Jennifer Baker, a legislative advocate for the California Retired Teachers’ Association (CalRTA). “That’s a much more complicated conversation. And though we’re exploring it, there are a lot of legal roadblocks.”

Outrage over retired teachers’ overpayment debt was first reported in April, when the Bay Area News Group revealed that miscalculations in retired teachers’ pension packages had plunged thousands of former educators into debt. But legislative efforts to protect teachers are still falling short.

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