A Teacher's Journal: Paying Teachers Differently

Maria, a colleague of mine who is considering a career change, unintentionally hit me with some pretty stinging words the other day. After I asked her why she wanted to leave teaching she said, "Honestly Bill, I don't want to end up like you. You work incredibly hard and yet you get nothing in return for it. I'm not sure that I can ever match your motivation when it goes unrecognized and unrewarded. I just don't know how you do it."

It was then that I realized how drastically expectations of younger generations of educators are changing. No longer is unparalleled job security, a defined benefits pension plan, and guaranteed incremental salary increases a "selling point" for our profession. Instead, these traditions--hard won and often intended to provide protection in what was once a profession dominated by women--are seen as roadblocks to genuine satisfaction.

We've entered an era where employees are willing to change jobs frequently. Few young professionals enter the job market with the intention of finishing their careers with the same companies that they start with. This flexibility is essential for success in a world where the jobs of today are often gone tomorrow.

Today's workforce expects something more out of professional compensation plans. Differentiation based on individual achievement has become commonplace in professions beyond education, rewarding top performers and serving as a motivator for employees who are driven to excel, who are willing to accept additional responsibilities, or who are willing to tackle challenging assignments. Private industry appeals to our most accomplished individuals because it makes a conscious effort to recognize excellence.

As a result, education struggles to hold on to talented teachers who understand the value of their work and who recognize that they are being undercompensated for contributions simply because they don't have years of experience or additional degrees. This disparity stands out and grows frustrating to millions of Marias working in today's classrooms. Simply stated, they want teacher pay to be based on performance.

But defining accomplishment in education remains a barrier to developing reliable alternative compensation plans resulting in a litany of failed "merit pay" programs over the past 100 years. Most are simplistic--rewarding teachers for results on standardized tests or for filling a limited number of predetermined leadership positions--struggling to earn the respect of educators.

That's why I was so excited to have been selected as a co-author of a recent report titled Performance Pay for Teachers: Designing a System that Students Deserve. Joining 17 other incredibly accomplished educators, I spent almost a year engaged in reflective conversations led by experts in the field like Dan Goldhaber, Bradd Jupp, Mark Simon, Ted Hershberg and Art Wise.

Our work reflected the complexity of our conversations. Informed by years of diverse experiences, we offer suggestions for designing professional compensation systems that respect the reality of the work that teachers do each day. Strategies for rewarding teachers in four broad categories are explored:

1. Rewarding teachers who help students learn more.
2. Rewarding teachers who develop and use new knowledge and skills.
3. Rewarding teachers who fulfill special needs in the local labor market.
4. Rewarding teachers who provide school and community leadership for student success.

In the end, I'm proud of what we've created and expect that it will stimulate important conversations about professional compensation in communities across America. Only when we have created new systems for rewarding teachers can we effectively meet our responsibility for ensuring that all children have access to accomplished educators.

Posted by William Ferriter at 04:16 PM on April 15, 2007 | Leave Feedback

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