What is simultaneously a wonderful benefit to retiring educators and a tremendous burden to the public school system?

It is Missouri’s Public School Retirement System, or PSRS. In my opinion, it needs to be reformed.

First, a brief summary: Educators — teachers, counselors, administrators and superintendents — at any salary level never receive 100 percent of their published salary.

They lose 14 percent, which along with district matching funds, is sent to PSRS. A published salary of $50,000 is $43,000 — 86 percent net — yet the cost to the district is actually $57,000 — $50,000 plus the 14-percent match. That’s a burden to both the working educator and the taxing entity.

That $14,000 gap — using this example — between district cost and pay is sent to PSRS and used to pay current retirees. Educators after 30 years of service, most of whom are 57 or younger, can retire with an annual benefitof 75 percent — 2.5 percent rate times 30 years — of their highest three-year average salary.

At the 31st year and beyond, that rate moves to 2.55 percent. So, after 31 years of service, the retirement benefit increases to 79 percent — 2.55 percent rate times 31 years — of their highest three-year average salary. At the 32nd year and beyond, educators are essentially working a full-time job for only about 7 percent more than they could receive by staying at home.

Missouri not only incentivizes our most experienced and most dedicated educators to leave, but places the financial burden of supporting them on younger, working educators and school districts. That needs to change. The age of 57 is too young to retire.

Many “retired” educators continue to work either as volunteers or paid substitutes in public education. Some take private sector jobs or jump jurisdictions and work in another state.

This is most notable in the case of superintendents who can earn both a six-figure retirement and a six-figure salary by getting hired in another state or by working in the private sector. The system makes it hard to find experienced, competent superintendents.

So here is my proposal, just one idea for reform:

After 31 years, educators should be allowed to “retire” with their benefits locked in and guaranteed.

Starting with the next year, their PSRS deduction should be reduced to 5 percent or less. That would be an instant 9-percent raise to educators who choose to continue working and a 9-percent savings to the district.

This would likely keep many of our most dedicated educators working and simultaneously reduce the financial strain on the retirement system by delaying retirement.

We are in the very early stages of a financial crisis in PSRS and by extension public education.

In two years, PSRS deductions are expected to increase to 15 percent, which will likely further increase turnover.

New teachers will face the financial strain of low net pay while more experienced educators will leave as their net pay drifts downward, moving closer to the retirement benefit they would receive if they walked away.

This increased turnover of classroom teachers will have a negative impact on academic achievement.

It may be a cliché, but it is true: “Children are our future.” As a nation, the foundation for a brighter future and an improved standard of living tomorrow is constructed with the education system of today.

Educators perform an absolutely vital role. We need to attract and retain the best and the brightest and they should be well compensated. But that compensation should be in the form of increased pay today, while working, and not the promise of a wonderful retirement in 31 years.

Venki Palamand first was elected to the Mehlville Board of Education in 2007 and currently serves as board vice president.