MERIT PAY for K-12 public educators
MEANINGFUL DISCUSSION of public policy issues is a key, as I see it, to healthy functional public policy. I spent my career in K-12 public education advocating for open discussion of significant public issues with CIVILITY! Ask the alumni of my WASHINGTON SEMINAR. A key threat to our republic is the lack of open discussion of significant public issues with CIVILITY! The polarization of our political culture today is VERY Unhealthy and dysfunctional. One of the key rules for healthy discussion is that one does not attack a PERSON. The real focus needs to be the ISSUE! Our US President Barack Obama, following the model of US President Abraham Lincoln, is demonstrating the healthiness of open discussion of significant public issues with civility without attacking persons and focusing on issues. It is very important that one keep in mind Abraham Lincoln’s statement, “I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.” This does NOT, as I understand, mean that persons have to agree to be friends. Rather, diversity of ideas enriches all of us as we continue dialog/discussion. Let’s do it!
Let’s move beyond the PAY FREEZE recommendation. There is a key fact in the issue of FAIRNESS for K-12 public educators and WI state employees, including UW system public educators – even with a pay freeze, the WI state employees are taking a hit with a pay-cut (just over 3%) through the Governor’s FURLOUGH system. Would it be feasible for local school districts to adapt the FURLOUGH for K-12 public educators?
The NEXT STEP which I advocate is that K-12 public educators ought to be working on contracts with MERIT PAY provisions. I agree with President Obama’s call for MERIT PAY. See the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s report on Obama’s statement on March 10 and reported on March 11, 2009 – President Obama on Merit Pay And then US Secretary of Education Duncan followed up with a dose of “tough love” for the National Education Association (NEA) on July 3, 2009 – see the Politico report – Education Secretary Duncan on MERIT PAY
SALARY SCHEDULE FORMAT - Having taught in the School District of Janesville for 29 years, I know well – very well – the salary schedule features in terms of both advantages and disadvantages. I have followed the on-going discussion of the significant public issue of MERIT PAY for K-12 public educators. I recognize the complexity of a fair and functional MERIT PAY system. The bottom-line is that I do ADVOCATE MERIT PAY for K-12 public educators. WI state law ought to be changed so as to allow local school districts to set up reasonable MERIT PAY contracts. WHY?
First and foremost, let me join those who assert that MOST (not all!) K-12 public educators are at least average (not above average). It is the exaggeration that ALL K-12 public educators are “above average” and OUTstanding which offends the knowledge and experience of every person who has dealt with K-12 public educators. That’s each and every one of us, isn’t it? I KNOW that Garrison Keillor’s quip that ALL the children of Lake Wobegon are “above average” does NOT apply to K-12 public educators. Some of them are and some of them are below average. Let’s be candid and honest. IF we exaggerate by claiming that ALL K-12 public educators are “above average” or OUTstanding, we undermine our own credibility.
Second, we need to acknowledge that the system does not often deal effectively with less than average and too often incompetent K-12 public educators. There are many reasons for this weakness. It is very important to clarify that there are legal provisions for supervision of and, if reasonable, dismissal of a K-12 public educator. That process is very demanding on the time of educational administrators. The time stress combined with the interpersonal stress with the specific K-12 public educator and her/his colleagues discourages meaningful supervision with discipline by educational administrators. “Go with the flow” is always the easy way and generally the way we all go.
Third, the various experiments with MERIT PAY for K-12 public educators have wide-ranging evaluations. The “perfect” system has not been developed. WHY do we NOT experiment so that through incremental innovation we move step-by-step to a healthy functional MERIT PAY system for K-12 public educators? I believe that this must be a LOCAL process. The only effective MERIT PAY system will be specific to each local school district. So, why shouldn’t the School District of Janesville be a leader in yet another area of K-12 public education policy: MERIT PAY for teachers?
Mr. E.
John Eyster lives in the Edgerton area. He is an adjunct professor of political science at UW-Waukesha and an advocate for democracy/civics education in Wisconsin high schools. John is a community blogger and is not a part of The Gazette staff. His opinion is not necessarily that of the The Gazette staff or management.
Jul 15, 2009 at 8:55 p.m.
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I recently read the proposal put forth by President Obama and while not perfect I think it is a good step in the right direction. It treats teachers like the professionals they are. It has a "residence" phase, honors Master's and PhD's in the field that a teacher is in etc.
Jul 14, 2009 at 4:33 p.m.
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Trying to follow your comments Mr. E. First off, more is not always better I got lost trying to read all three comments.
1. You admit the WKCE is not adequate, as a high school teacher I know it is completely inadequate. I've had students who learn well and do horrible on standardized tests. MAPS testing is somewhat better but still a standardized test. How will you "grade" me if the tests are inaccurate?
2. As a JEA member I would totally support the removal of certain sub-par and lazy teachers. It is the job of the administrators to evaluate these teachers, give them opportunities to improve and FIRE THEM if they do not improve. To often it is LAZY administrators who try to transfer them to other buildings or look the other way. What is your solution to that? Our contract allows a teacher to be fired within a YEAR if the administration is on the ball, it is not the JEA that is stopping the removal of bad teachers, we have to try to pick up the slack for them and we as committed professionals want the best education for our students as possible.
Jul 14, 2009 at 4:50 a.m.
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Part III comment...
Yes, there are also SYSTEMATIC problems which NEED to be dealt with and remediated. The WORST of which I am aware right now throughout WI is the HORRENDUOUSLY ineffective WKCE testing program. The School District of Janesville ADVOCATED for GROWTH MODEL ASSESSMENT at the time I was Legislative Liaison (October 2000 – June 2008). In fact, Janesville must administer the WKCE which is paid for by the State through DPI. NOTE: There are thousands of dollars in costs for this test administration which the local school district pays, but NOT for the test and its scoring. At the same time, the Janesville school district uses a VERY EFFECTIVE Growth Model testing program which provides IMMEDIATE assessment to the student, the parents and the teacher so that IMMEDIATE learning decisions can be made to IMPROVE the learning for that particular student!!! YEAH! I love the assertion by RUTH ROBINSON, Talented & Gifted and Assessment Coordinator for the SD-Janesville, "Every child learning every day." That ought to be the COMMITMENT of every K-12 public educator and local school district!
I trust YOU, “lakennedy,” will be an informed and involved parent in the SD-Janesville. “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty” and of QUALITY & ADEQUATE K-12 public education!
Here we go… Mr. E.
END COMMENT
Jul 14, 2009 at 4:49 a.m.
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Part II of comment...
So, we AGREE on the reality that NOT ALL K-12 public educators are at least average... NOW, how do we somehow evaluate educators so that we are NOT encouraging persons who are NOT EFFECTIVE EDUCATORS?! WE MUST FIND A WAY, LISA! That is an absolute in my mind... WE MUST FIND A WAY SOONER THAN LATER! IF NECESSARY, I am going to work with my daughter and son-in-law to HOMESCHOOL my grandsons IF they are put into a situation with an INeffective teacher!!!!! “NVGrf” points out the same difficulty as you do as to WHO will evaluate classroom teachers. That is truly the $64,000. question. I am convinced that a combination of participants would prove effective. As US Secretary of Education Duncan urged the American Federation of Teachers yesterday, “Trust us; we’ll work with you.” He directly stated that it MUST BE DONE! Read the Washington Post’s article, URL: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar....
COMMENT TO “darwin1”: YOU need to double-check with our WI Department of Public Instruction (DPI) in terms of the requirements for certification for an educational administrator. YOU do NOT have ACCURATE information re. the credentials for educational administrators in WI. Having earned that certification through UW-Madison, I KNOW. (IF you wish to double-check my claim, you can search on the DPI's license search: http://www2.dpi.wi.gov/lic-tll/search.do... and enter my name: John Eyster.) and then, “darwin1,” you (and others) can use the following link to learn the specifications for the various educational administrative licenses in WI: http://dpi.wi.gov/tepdl/pi3sub12.html#pi....
Continued next comment... see above...
Jul 14, 2009 at 4:44 a.m.
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SURPRISE - I learned that 3000 characters is the MAXIMUM one can post as a COMMENT! So, I will use several comments now. HA! DAH!
FIRST & FOREMOST, YOU ask poignant and probing questions. I would have to candidly tell you that I do NOT think anyone KNOWS what the answer would be re. "hard-to-teach" situations. That is certainly ONE POSSIBLE special category. Already there are school districts which have DIFFERENTIAL PAY for teachers in disciplines for which it is difficult to get a teacher, e.g., technology, auto-repair, international languages, mathematics, science. English and Social Studies teachers are a dime a dozen! Ha! I note that “darwin1” is looking for such a local school district – I know he does NOT have to look very far… go for it “darwin1”!
YOU are very candid when you talk about "complacent parenting," Lisa! WOW! Your child will be in 2nd grade! My oldest grandson is moving into 4th grade and the youngest grandson is moving into Kindergarten. YES, parental involvement is KEY! I KNOW from my own experience that the LEVEL of parenting for students who were in my AP classes was VERY HIGH QUALITY as contrasted with most of the parents of students who were NOT invested in learning. SAD, but true. How do we motivate conscientious and committed parenting?
The other reality is that we KNOW that the TEACHER is a KEY factor in learning! YOU KNOW WELL, as I know well, that there are VERY EFFECTIVE TEACHERS and there are VERY INEFFECTIVE (even lazy) TEACHERS! WHY do we NOT sift-and-winnow?!?! I confess – I have known INCOMPETENT teachers. PROBLEM: The educational administrators were NOT willing to deal with those persons. Too much stress.
CONTINUED NEXT COMMENT... above...
Jul 13, 2009 at 6:51 p.m.
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If someone could provide me with a single example of a teacher being paid more from merit pay and not less, I would like to know about it. The problem with merit pay is, who decides what merit is Many administrators do not have degrees in education but rather public administration which begs the question - who decides?
Jul 13, 2009 at 5:42 p.m.
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One of the most difficult problems to solve in my opinion would be, "Who will determine which teachers qualify?" Administrators who have not been in the classroom for years, or who were never "above average" teachers themselves? Would they judge the teaching ability of their staff? It seems to me that teachers who are successful in the classroom tend to spend their careers in the classroom because the positive reinforcements they receive, other than money, motivate them to remain there. My experience is that many who are unsuccessful in the classroom environment often seek to move into administration. Wasn't that book titled, The Peter Principle. (Or was it Principal)
Jul 13, 2009 at 9:02 a.m.
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Mr. Eyster, I tried to follow your link to Obama's views on merit pay, but something was amiss. I did a search of my own, and came up with this link:
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http://www.jsonline.com/news/usandworld/...
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I'm thinking this is the same article you referred to.
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While I am definitely interested in learning more about merit pay, I do have a few hesitations. First of all, while I understand that those willing to teach in areas with "hard-to-teach schools" would be eligible for extra pay, what about those who teach in areas that aren't deemed "hard-to-teach?" I'm not even confident that I know what exactly defines a school as one that is "hard-to-teach." Here in Janesville, both Jackson and Wilson elementary schools have issues with high poverty rates. Would teachers at these schools be paid more than a teacher at Roosevelt or Kennedy?
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Second of all, how would it be possible to fairly evaluate these teachers? As a parent of a soon-to-be second grader here in Janesville, I see too often the impact of complacent parenting on a student's academic achievement.
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Again, I find the idea interesting, but fail to see how it could be fair or effective. While I agree that in many other professions, merit is and what should determine pay. I am not sure that I can agree with that sentiment when it comes to teachers. Too many outside factors come into play when it comes to creating a successful learning environment. Parenting and community support to name a couple. Now, I want to make it very clear that I do agree with you when you write that "...MOST (not all!) K-12 public educators are at least average (not above average). It is the exaggeration that ALL K-12 public educators are “above average” and OUTstanding which offends the knowledge and experience of every person who has dealt with K-12 public educators..." Undoubtedly there are below average teachers lurking in our district. I agree that they should be held accountable, but at the same time I advocate that we are fair when it comes to recognizing the outside factors that are necessary for teachers to be successful at their job. I feel that under the pay system you endorse, too many teachers would suffer because of bad parenting and a lack of community support.
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