Retirement Plus increased the amount of money teachers paid into the Massachusetts Teacher Retirement System (MTRS). It went into effect in 2001. Teachers hired after July, 2001 would pay 11% their pay into their retirement.
Teachers who started prior to 2001 had been paying 9% of their pay into their retirement fund. They had the choice to continue paying 9% and receive less money in their pension or pay 11%. Most teachers opted into Retirement Plus.
Some teachers, through no fault of their own, fell through the cracks. The MTA has been trying to help those teachers. If you have any doubts about what you’re paying into the system, check your pay stub. Or ask an ELEA building rep or officer for help.
Our MTA field representative Jason Mathes is trying to reach all of the teachers who did not opt into the system.
Here’s a message from him:
If you haven’t already received questions about the Retirement Plus settlement, then expect them any day, especially as we come back to school. As a union, we filed legislation to fix the problem that some of our members, through no fault of their own, were not properly placed in Retirement Plus. As I understand it, this mostly affects people who were mid-career changers and/or those that went from the ESP ranks to teaching. It cannot affect anyone hired after 2004 because they were automatically enrolled in MTRS Plus.
If a member believes that they are not in retirement plus and would benefit from this legislative fix, they need to go to this link and fill out the form.
https://form.jotform.com/222264763049054
We believe that this fix will help approximately 2,000 people. But we expect to thousands more inquires.