Maryland's program to lure retired teachers and principals back into the classroom (by promising not to reduce their pensions) as a way to help struggling districts fill hard-to-staff positions in high shortage subjects and schools, may be, well,?retired. As we covered several months ago (TQB, December 5, 2003), an investigative report by the Baltimore Sun found that retired teachers in the program were being rehired to fill anything but hard-to-staff positions, in anything but high poverty areas and were receiving anything but diminutive salaries and pensions (some exceeding $100,000). The program was particularly abused in Baltimore County (which does not include the city).

Lawmakers have been thus far unable to iron out a compromise that will ensure such abuses do not occur in the future. As many as 1,000 retired teachers and principals will be out of a job if lawmakers can't come up with something before the plan expires on June 30. While many states have adopted similar plans in recent years, Maryland would be one of the few to give up on the program.