Teacher Bonuses Get Unions' Blessing
Pr. George's Offers Rewards of Up to $10,000 Linked to Test Scores, Evaluations

By Nelson Hernandez
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 25, 2008

One of the most ambitious pay-for-performance initiatives in Washington area schools is drawing strong teacher interest and local union support even though many national labor leaders have long asserted that it is unfair to link teachers' paychecks directly to their students' test scores.

Prince George's County plans to offer bonuses of up to $10,000 in the coming school year to exceptional teachers from 12 schools who participate in the incentive pilot program. That kind of money turns heads, especially among beginning teachers, the most difficult to retain: It is equal to a pay increase of more than 20 percent for a typical teacher with a starting salary of about $43,500.

National unions have tended to criticize merit pay in part because they support raises for all teachers and in part because the concept is often considered a threat to labor solidarity. In recent years, however, unions have shown willingness to tinker with traditional pay systems. Some local unions have teamed with superintendents who promote pay for performance as a way to improve struggling urban schools.

At a recent seminar for potential volunteers for the Prince George's program, a forest of hands shot up during the question-and-answer session in the Nicholas Orem Middle School library. Many teachers asked whether they would be eligible for the full bonus.

"I apologize for not being the most politically correct person, but I teach social studies, and I don't see social studies on this list," one teacher said, reviewing a list of qualifying subjects.

"How about seventh- and eighth-grade science? Is that considered hard to staff?" another asked.

"Are ESOL teachers at the elementary level qualified?" a teacher of English for speakers of other languages inquired.

The program's criteria exclude some teachers from certain bonus pools. Half of the bonus money is tied to scores on state tests given in third through eighth grades and in high school: Up to $2,500 is won when the school meets test score targets, and up to $2,500 is given for improving a given class's scores. The other half is given for teaching in hard-to-staff subjects ($1,500), doing well on an evaluation of classroom skills (up to $1,500), and engaging in professional development and activities outside the classroom (up to $2,000).

Many teachers, such as those who teach a class or grade level that does not take state tests or those whose subject expertise is not in short supply, would not be eligible to receive the full $10,000. Not all of the prospective volunteers were happy with the limits. But after the meeting, many said they would try the program.

"I don't see any reason not to," said Beverly Acors, a third-grade reading teacher at Arrowhead Elementary School with five years' experience. "Every day, I give my 100 percent, so if there's an extra incentive, why not take advantage?"

On the national stage, merit pay remains politically sensitive. Union criticism of a proposal to pay bonuses of up to $12,500 to teachers at schools serving low-income areas helped stall efforts in Congress last year to revise the No Child Left Behind law. Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, favors linking test scores to bonuses. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the presumptive Democratic nominee, has said he supports bonuses for teachers who earn a "highly qualified" designation but opposes tying pay to test scores.

Local and state educators and elected officials across the country are pushing ahead with pay-for-performance plans. More than 30 governors have talked up the idea in recent state-of-the-state addresses, according to Rob Weil, deputy director of educational issues for the American Federation of Teachers, one of the nation's two major teachers unions. On its Web site, the AFT says it is "encouraging its locals to explore various teacher compensation systems based on local conditions" without entirely abandoning the seniority-based salary schedule.

School officials in the District and Arlington County have taken steps toward pay-for-performance models. In Arlington, teachers have three opportunities to earn a permanent salary step increase by creating portfolios to demonstrate their abilities. The District recently issued bonuses to teachers at four schools that made significant gains on the D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System, and Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee has expressed interest in offering "differentiated pay" in a contract under negotiation.

In the Prince George's program, principals and assistant principals also will be eligible for bonuses of up to $12,500 and $11,000, respectively, with as much as 60 percent of the award granted if the school meets testing targets, with the rest given for professional growth and doing well on an evaluation.

John Smeallie, Maryland's assistant superintendent for certification and accreditation, said economic realities are driving a new look at teacher salaries.

"We are in a market-driven situation for teachers more than at any time in my professional career," Smeallie said. "Folks have so many options now. Folks move around more. . . . Education is recognizing that it may be time to look at compensation in the same way the rest of the world looks at it."

But Weil warned that bonus systems require a difficult financial commitment.

"There's been a proliferation of these plans across the country," Weil said, "but a lot of them are falling on tougher times now because of the economy."

Thanks to a $17.1 million federal grant, Prince George's won't have to worry about funding for the incentive program for at least five years. County school leaders also have avoided political strife. Union leaders, school board members and Superintendent John E. Deasy unveiled the pay-for-performance plan side by side in March.

Donald Briscoe, president of the Prince George's County Educators' Association, which represents county teachers, said some details of the county's plan remain to be ironed out. But he said the administration's cooperation with the union and the voluntary nature of the program had eased old tensions over the idea of performance pay.

Carol Kilby, Briscoe's predecessor, is the liaison between the school system and unions on the incentive project. She said the plan is workable.

"No other plan has been inclusive of the union, and that's why we're not kicking it in its teeth right now," Kilby said. "The school system and the union went into this holding hands, so to speak. . . . This is not a traditional union thing to do. In fact, it's kind of a slippery slope. That's why we're planning so much. I liken it to baby-proofing a house."

Some merit-pay programs elsewhere have drawn controversy or flopped.

Florida lawmakers repealed the state's Special Teachers are Rewarded program in 2007 after educators said it was imposed too quickly and without enough input from local school systems. It was replaced by the Merit Award Program, which gave local districts more control and reduced emphasis on state test scores. Fairfax County began a pay-for-performance plan in 1986 but abandoned it during a 1992 budget crisis.

A Denver merit pay program has won praise, and a recent study showed modest gains in the test scores of students under teachers enrolled in the plan. Although the local teachers union and school administrators are generally supportive, they are embroiled in a funding dispute related to the program. The union hopes to raise salaries for veteran teachers, and the school system wants to offer bonuses to teachers at hard-to-staff schools.

Reg Weaver, president of the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers union, said such examples show merit pay is not a cure-all.

"It takes away the focus of what really should be done to recruit and retain teachers, and that is more respect, more support and better salaries." He added: "That's what will get more teachers in the profession."

Weaver said he opposes merit pay programs on principle. But he added: "We support whatever is negotiated locally by the members, whether we like it or not." The Prince George's union is affiliated with the NEA.

Prince George's teachers said after the seminar last month that they would welcome bonuses for more than financial reasons. Acors, 43, said she would appreciate the money -- most teachers with her level of experience are paid about $50,000 -- but there was more to it than that.

"It would just be validation," Acors said. "A lot of teachers, they just want a 'thank you' sometimes. It's not about the money all the time."