Yes. You can collect a teacher pension and Social Security at the same time, in full, as long as you qualify for Social Security on your own work record or a spouse’s. The two federal rules that used to reduce Social Security for retirees with a government pension — the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset — were repealed by the Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law on January 5, 2025.1Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset The repeal applies to every benefit payable from January 2024 forward.
What the 2025 Repeal Actually Did
For about forty years, two provisions cut Social Security payments for workers who split a career between government jobs outside Social Security and private-sector jobs inside it. The Windfall Elimination Provision reduced a retiree’s own Social Security retirement benefit. The Government Pension Offset reduced spousal or survivor benefits by two-thirds of the government pension amount, which for many teachers erased the spousal benefit entirely. Both hit hardest in the roughly 15 states where public school teachers pay into a state pension system instead of Social Security.
The Social Security Fairness Act eliminated both provisions.2GovInfo. Public Law 118-273 December 2023 was the last month either rule applied. A retired teacher who earned Social Security credits from other work now has that benefit calculated using the same formula as any other worker. A teacher collecting a spousal or survivor benefit no longer sees it reduced because of a government pension.
If You Already Receive a Reduced Benefit
The Social Security Administration began adjusting monthly payments on February 25, 2025. If your benefit was being reduced by either provision, SSA recalculated your monthly amount and sent a one-time lump sum covering the difference back to January 2024.1Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset Most affected retirees started seeing the new monthly amount in April 2025. By mid-2025 the agency had issued over 3.1 million adjusted payments totaling $17 billion.
You don’t need to file anything if your mailing address and direct deposit information are current with SSA. Adjustments are automatic, and a mailed notice explains the change — sometimes arriving after the payment itself. To confirm your information, sign in to your personal my Social Security account at ssa.gov or call 1-800-772-1213.1Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset
If You Never Filed Because of WEP or GPO
This is the case that catches people. Many teachers who knew the old rules would wipe out most or all of their Social Security benefit simply never applied. SSA can’t adjust a benefit you never claimed. You have to file.
By mid-2025, SSA had received nearly 290,000 new applications tied to the repeal and completed 92 percent of them.1Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset You can apply online at ssa.gov, by phone, or by appointment at a local field office.3Social Security Administration. Submit Forms and Upload Documents SSA can pay up to six months of back benefits before the month you apply, depending on your situation, so filing sooner protects payments you’re otherwise entitled to.
Do You Actually Qualify for Social Security?
The repeal removed the penalty. It didn’t remove the basic eligibility rule. To collect Social Security retirement on your own record, you need 40 work credits — roughly ten years in jobs where Social Security taxes were withheld.4Social Security Administration. Retirement Benefits In 2026, one credit takes $1,890 in covered earnings, up to four credits a year.5Social Security Administration. Social Security Credits and Benefit Eligibility
“Covered” is the operative word. Teaching in about 15 states doesn’t participate in Social Security at all: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Texas. In those states, your paycheck funds a state pension instead of the federal payroll tax, so those years earn zero Social Security credits. Some districts and employee categories within those states do participate, so the picture isn’t uniform even within a single state.
Credits from other work stay on your record permanently. Private-sector jobs before teaching, summer work that withheld Social Security taxes, teaching in a covered state, self-employment income — all of it counts, and none of it expires. A teacher who earned 30 credits in their twenties and then spent an entire career in a non-covered position needs only ten more credits from any covered employment to qualify.4Social Security Administration. Retirement Benefits
Your benefit amount is based on your highest 35 years of covered earnings. A teacher who qualifies with exactly 40 credits but only ten years of covered wages will have 25 zeros averaged in, producing a modest monthly check. That’s not a reason to skip filing. It’s a reason to know what to expect.
If you don’t have 40 credits of your own, you may still qualify for spousal or survivor benefits on a husband’s or wife’s record. That’s the piece the GPO used to swallow, and it’s fully restored.
Medicare Is a Separate Question
The repeal did not touch Medicare. Premium-free Part A uses the same 40-credit rule, but some state and local government employees pay only the Medicare portion of FICA (1.45 percent) without paying the Social Security portion (6.2 percent). Those Medicare-only credits count toward premium-free Part A but not toward a Social Security retirement benefit.6Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Original Medicare Part A and B Eligibility and Enrollment
If your teaching position withheld neither tax and you don’t have 40 credits elsewhere or through a spouse, you’ll pay a Part A premium. In 2026, that’s $311 per month with at least 30 credits, or $565 per month with fewer than 30.7Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 2026 Medicare Parts A and B Premiums and Deductibles Over a year, the higher premium reaches $6,780. If you’re still working and your district offers the option to pay Medicare-only FICA, opting in is almost always worth the long-term savings.
If You’re Still in the Classroom
A few practical points before you retire.
Any covered work counts toward the 40 credits. Tutoring through a private company, summer jobs, freelance income reported with self-employment tax — it all generates credits. At $1,890 per credit in 2026, $7,560 in a calendar year maxes out the four annual credits.5Social Security Administration. Social Security Credits and Benefit Eligibility Ten years of that gets you to 40.
Check your Social Security Statement periodically through my Social Security. The statement lists your credited earnings year by year, and correcting a missing year while records are fresh is much easier than fixing it decades later when you’re ready to file.
Older retirement planning materials, SSA publications that haven’t been updated, and colleagues who retired before 2024 may still describe the WEP and GPO as active rules. They aren’t. Any advice built around them is advice built around a law that no longer exists.