April 14, 2005 |
RETHINKING TEACHER COMPENSATION TO REWARD RESULTS The education debate swirling through the Texas Capitol this legislative session at times seems more centered on dollars and cents than on the actual education of our children. As the debate unfolds, we ask our state leaders to remember that without the best teachers to implement our education system, it won’t be a success. The Texas Education Reform Caucus is urging lawmakers to make improving compensation to both retain and recruit these hard-working individuals a top priority in any public education funding bill. If they don’t, we will continue to lose our more experienced educators to the private sector and fail to attract the brightest recent college graduates. The Caucus – a bipartisan group of educators, business leaders, parents and elected officials – believes we must rethink teacher compensation if we’re to attract and retain quality educators. New teachers earn on average $8,000 less per year than other recent graduates under the current compensation system, research shows. It takes a teacher about 20 years to reach the top salary level – a level many will never reach because they will have long ago left the classroom for better-paying opportunities. While the business world has proved that incentives inspire top achievements, excellence in the classroom is not inspired or rewarded. The 100-year-old salary structure, based solely on years of service and academic credentials, does little to reward job performance. It’s time we began to view financial incentives as part of an effort to support quality teaching and raise student achievement. Combined with professional development, innovative mentoring programs and new professional roles for teachers without their having to leave the classroom -- incentive pay can make a big difference. We must expand teacher compensation measures to reward different responsibilities, knowledge, skills, experience and yes, results in the classroom that raise student performance. The Texas Education Reform Caucus applauds the House Education Committee for including a provision in House Bill 2, a public education reform bill that would reward teachers’ success with financial bonuses. Teachers would be recognized for increasing student achievement and for scoring well on other measures such as evaluations and teachers’ comments. While the state would provide each school district money to fund an incentive program, the specific design of the program itself would be left to the teachers in each district. The funds could be spent on bonuses for experienced teachers who mentor new teachers, outstanding teachers at educationally disadvantaged campuses, or exceptional teachers or employees who improve student performance on a campus or within a grade level. The Senate Committee on Education also has proposed campus-level incentive plans and financial incentives for educators placed at hard-to-staff campuses or in subject areas with a shortfall of teachers, such as math, science and special education. Sure, there will be obstacles to implementing an incentive plan, and districts will need time to develop a successful framework, but redesigning the compensation system can be done properly with adequate funding and a solid evaluation system. With weeks left in the legislative session, the Texas Education Reform Caucus will continue monitoring House Bill 2 to make sure the important issue of financial incentives is not derailed. A strong, qualified, motivated teacher workforce is the best education investment our state can make. ### David Russell is a board member of the Texas Education Reform Caucus, a non-profit organization dedicated to education reform, and vice-president of external affairs for Verizon.
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