In an update, newly hired teachers are being steered away from pensions.
Governor Snyder signed a bill into law on Thursday that steers newly-hired school employees towards a 401(k) only retirement plan instead.
It starts on February 1.
Republicans say this will prevent future underfunding in public education.
New hires can opt out and pay more of their salary into a pension than current school workers do. This puts more of the risk of underfunding on them.
Teachers’ unions say they worry this could lead to the pension system becoming closed to new hires entirely.
Both a pension and small 401(k) have been available to school employees since 2010.
Currently, only 20 percent of employees take just the 401(k). It’s unknown how many will after the law is in effect.
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