Teacher Performance Pay

I too struggle with teacher bonuses. I totally agree with Ladner's post on Jay Greene's Blog (full disclosure that he sits on my board but that is not why I agree with him)– teachers need to be rewarded for the success of the school and for their individual contribution to that school. I saw this first hand in one of my jobs in manufacturing. We had an annual bonus that was based on the how well the organization did and how well my department did. It meant that everyone was focused on the overall performance of the plant and their individual performance. And if anyone was a slacker, the peer pressure for that person “stuff” together and not hurt our bonus was pretty intense.

There are other issues with teacher bonuses that we are still trying to work out as well. Because of a few meetings with Rob Weil from AFT I also never had a good answer for him on how we handle the problem of waiting for test score results since bonuses are most likely to have a positive impact the closer they are to the behavior being rewarded. There is also the timing of student testing and the quality of student testing. The ideal solution would be a true pre and post test with the rewards coming soon after the post test. But with school budgets today, will anyone really stomach another test for students and absorb that cost?

More studies are needed to determine how to implement performance plans and truly reward the efforts in our schools. It is great to see some on the ed reform side pointing out some of the issues and looking for solutions. We are completing the write up on our initial study for our Distinguished Teacher program and are still looking for dollars to pilot this program as a possible answer.

Union Perceptions

I am a big fan of Mike Antonnuci’s Education Intelligence Agency (EIA) blog as he does an amazing job of keeping an eye on all things union. Since the teacher’s unions have come out so firmly against alternative certification, I rely on EIA to keep track of union positions and facts.

This time he steers us to a Rasmussen Report on the public perception of teacher unions. From their article: “two-thirds of U.S. voters (66%) say the teachers’ unions – the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers – are more interested in protecting their members’ jobs than in the quality of education.”

Wow – this on top of the WSJ Article that called out the unions for opposing alternative teacher certification since “Like all unions, teachers unions have a vested interest in restricting the labor supply to reduce job competition. Traditional state certification rules help to limit the supply of "certified" teachers”

Is this a trend? Do people – and maybe even politicians – finally understand that a union’s focus is more pay and benefits for members and not education improvements? It gives one hope.

And a shout out to Jay Greene and Matt Ladner for pushing the “all fronts” strategy on the blog.