STATEMENT - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 17, 2024

Senate Passes Senate Bill 911

LANSING, MI —The Michigan Association of Superintendents & Administrators (MASA), the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB), the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP), the Michigan Elementary & Middle School Principals Association (MEMSPA), the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity (MASO), and the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators (MAISA) today applauded the Senate’s passage of Senate Bill 911, introduced by Senator Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores), which would permanently reduce school districts’ payroll rate into the Michigan Public School Employee Retirement System (MPSERS)  by 5.75% and eliminate the requirement for many public school employees to contribute 3% of their salary toward health care in retirement.

The passage of the bill signifies a historic redirection of savings from MPSERS back to school districts across the state. The permanent rate reduction provides school districts with significant, ongoing, and predictable financial relief, empowering them to invest more resources directly into classrooms — directly benefiting their students, teachers and school communities. Additionally, eliminating employee contributions will ease the financial burden on school employees while maintaining the long-term stability of the MPSERS system.

With today’s passage of SB 911, the Michigan Senate has recognized the decades of sacrifices made by Michigan public schools and their employees to pay down the MPSERS OPEB fund. This change in law will remove a significant financial burden by reducing the MPSERS payroll rate and provide a direct boost to educator salaries by eliminating the 3% employee contribution for healthcare.  

We urge the Michigan House of Representatives to concur with these changes and look forward to Governor Whitmer signing this bill into law.

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Contact: Jennifer Smith, MASB
Director of Government Relations
P: 517.327.5912
jsmith@masb.org