Education Law

Rewarding good teachers

Yesterday USA Today asked the question should teachers pay be linked to students? scores?? It?s a question that has been asked a lot lately especially with both presidential candidates answering yes. They, and many others, believe that basing teacher salaries on their success in the classroom instead of just years in the classroom will encourage our most effective teachers to stay in teaching while attracting more qualified candidates into the profession.

Sounds fair enough but does anyone know if changing the way teachers are paid makes a difference? Well, our good friends over at the Center for Public Education asked that very question. In their latest report Wanted: Good teachers they explore a variety of options districts have been implementing to recruit and retain effective teachers. One of those options is financial incentives which includes merit pay and pay for performance programs. The Center found that most financial incentives- beyond competitive starting salaries- have had mixed results.

Of course ?mixed results? means that in some cases they were successful while in other cases they were not. That?s because, as BoardBuzz knows all too well, that one size doesn?t fit all. That is why it is vital that decisions on how teachers are paid should be made at the district level fitting with the unique wants and needs of that district. By creating a pay system that meets the needs of everyone in the district, it is more likely to be successful.

For more information on what is working on retaining and recruiting quality, check out the Center for Public Education?s Wanted: Good teachers.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on October 24, 2008 (boomark / email).