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MARQUETTE COUNTY -- With 89 teachers eligible for retirement this year, Marquette Schools are thrilled with new state incentives.

"In Marquette's case, it's coming at a very good time, when we have some very serious budget issues that we're trying to resolve," said Marquette Superintendent Jon Hartwig.

The incentives are designed to encourage teachers into early retirement by offering them bigger pensions.  The district can then save money by hiring younger teachers who will work for lower salaries.

"It would make that part of our budget a little more palatable," Hartwig said.

Also under the new law, teachers must start contributing three percent of their paychecks to pension health care funds, pushing even more teachers towards early retirement.  Negaunee Schools are also looking to early retirements as a way to save.  In fact, according to Negaunee Superintendent James Derocher, they're adding their own district incentive.

"We're offering the teacher a budget or an early retirement incentive of $20,000 if they would retire early," said Derocher.

While new state retiring incentives may be a good idea for larger school districts like Marquette, for smaller districts like Gwinn, it may place potentially retiring teachers between a rock and a hard place.

"It's not an incentive bill, it's a punitive bill," said Gwinn Superintendent Michael Maino.  "It's a bill that's going to force people to retire who do not want to pay that three percent, especially if they're right on the line." 

The Gwinn district says it's unfair that they have to pay the three percent pension increase because their staff is mostly young.

"So we have no one retire, no savings in our budget, and yet we're going to have to pay that same increase in the retirement system," Maino said.

Teachers in Marquette County need to announce retirement by June 11.