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4/17/2026
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Rep. O’Brien’s legislation that reforms teacher pension system heard by House Finance Committee
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STATE HOUSE – Rep. William W. O’Brien’s legislation that will reform the teacher pension system to address the state’s teacher shortage was heard by the House Finance Committee last night.
He believes that Rhode Island’s state pension system needs to be more in line with Massachusetts and Connecticut to recruit and retain new teachers. More specifically, Representative O’Brien’s legislation would allow teachers, and other public-sector workers, to retire without reduced benefits if their age and years of service add up to 85.
“I introduced this bill because our state’s teacher shortage is a critical issue that will negatively impact current and future students if this problem is not solved. And a big cause of why Rhode Island has a teacher shortage is the pension system that’s offered. To look at it simply, issues with the teacher pension system are a math problem that needs to be solved for the sake of our kids,” said Representative O’Brien (D-Dist. 54, North Providence).
The legislation (2026-H 7160) would allow teachers, state and municipal employees to retire when they have at least 28 years of active service and their retirement age, when combined with the number of their years of service, reaches the number 85.
Representative O’Brien notes that one of the biggest obstacles to attracting new teachers is the number of years required to work until they receive a pension, often until a teacher reaches their mid to late sixties.
“Everyone knows that money is tight these days and the financial situations for our school districts and teachers are no different. But, without new teachers paying into the pension system, our current and future retirees will also be in dire straits. Every time a teacher retires, the school district saves $70,000, so if 100 teachers retire, that’s a $7 million savings. But since we require our teachers to work far longer than neighboring states, we are not only missing out on these savings but also failing to attract the next generation of teachers. If we solve the math problem of pension reform, our teacher shortage issue will also be corrected,” said Representative O’Brien.
The bill was held for further study.
For more information, contact:
Andrew Caruolo, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401)222-6124
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