LOCAL COLUMN
OPINION: New Mexico must stop blocking retired educators from helping schools
New Mexico has a problem of its own making: The Educational Retirement Board is preventing retired educators from working as independent contractors, even when their services are limited, specialized and urgently needed. Instead of using clear federal rules to distinguish employees from contractors, the ERB has adopted an internal process so rigid and opaque that retirees are effectively shut out of any education-related work in the state.
When a retiree wants to provide short-term or project-based services to a school district or a state education agency, they must apply for an independent-contractor determination. In theory, this process protects both the pension system and the retiree. In practice, it has become a barrier that very few people can overcome.
Retirees consistently report that retirement board determinations are denied with nearly identical language, no explanation of how decisions were made, and no guidance on how to revise and resubmit their applications. In many cases, the denials claim the proposed work 鈥渁ppears employee-like鈥� even when the retiree works off-site, pays gross receipts tax, controls their schedule, uses their own equipment and in some cases, offers services through an LLC 鈥� all key indicators of independent-contractor status under IRS Form SS-8.
The result is predictable: Districts cannot hire local experts. Instead, they must contract with out-of-state contractors at significantly higher rates. Publicly posted procurement records show that out-of-state vendors routinely charge considerably more for coaching, instructional support and improvement work, thereby draining funds that could be reinvested in New Mexico schools. These contractors do not reinvest their living expenses into New Mexico's economy. This shrinks our state's overall economic base.
Even more troubling, the ERB has denied contractor applications for work with the New Mexico Public Education Department. This means retirees are being blocked from assisting with state-level improvement efforts, despite no statutory authority allowing the ERB to regulate contractor work for the NMPED. NMAC 22-11-25.1.J also states that the rendered services of a retired member would include substitute teaching and voluntarily performing duties.
The ERB has justified its tight restrictions by referencing fund protection, yet its own 2025 Popular Annual Financial Report shows a strengthening system: rising net position, positive investment performance, a higher funded ratio and stable contribution patterns. Nothing in the report suggests that retirees performing legitimate contractor work pose a threat to pension solvency.
Lawmakers must step in. New Mexico needs clear, transparent, IRS-aligned standards for independent contractors and a determination process that is fair, consistent and separate from the current Return-to-Work program. Retired educators have decades of knowledge to offer 鈥� and our state should stop building barriers that keep them from serving.
Jann Hunter has been an educator for over 40 years, working as a teacher, administrator and assistant professor in curriculum and instruction and leadership.
