Q: The AJC recently reported that the Cobb County school board had hired Debra Wilson from retirement to be the principal of Shallowford Falls Elementary and hired Jim Snell from retirement to be the principal of Griffin Middle School. Will these individuals continue to receive their retirement pay while they are serving as principals?
—Michelle Hutchinson, Marietta
A: Debra Wilson and Jim Snell will receive the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) of Georgia pay they have earned, said Jay Dillon, the director of communications for the Cobb County School District. "We have employed them as principals working 100 percent, but are compensating them at 95 percent," he told Q&A on the News in an email. The TRS website states: "TRS retirees who retired under a normal service retirement may return to work and continue receiving full retirement benefits, provided that they have been retired for a minimum of 12 months. … Local school systems may employ a retiree as a full-time classroom teacher, principal, superintendent, media specialist or counselor."
Q: When did the first U.S. immigration laws go into effect?
—Lorraine Vinson, Rome
A: The Page Act of 1875 was the first federal law limiting immigration, according to a Congressional Budget Office report called the "Immigration Policy in the United States." It was named for a California Congressman named Horace F. Page and sought to strengthen the ban on cheap Chinese labor and prohibit the immigration of Chinese prostitutes to the United States, according to "Forbidden Families: Emigration Experiences of Chinese Women Under the Page Law, 1875-1882," by George Anthony Peffer.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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