Bill > H2356

This bill allows teachers who have taught in certain overseas schools, specifically those operated by or receiving assistance from the U.S. Department of State's Office of Overseas Schools or the Department of Defense, or those accredited by a U.S. state education department, to receive credit towards their retirement. To gain this "creditable service," a teacher must deposit an amount equal to five percent of their overseas salary plus regular interest into their retirement system's annuity savings fund. This provision aims to recognize prior teaching experience in these specific overseas settings, but it has limitations: the credit cannot exceed the total service a teacher would have earned in a Massachusetts public school if they had worked until age sixty-five, with a maximum of ten years of credit for overseas service, and no credit will be given for any service for which the teacher already receives a retirement allowance, annuity, or pension from another source.