Merit Pay for Teachers: Count Me In

Merit pay initiatives have been gaining interest, prompted in part by the
recent Wisconsin teachers’ union situation. Barack Obama included merit
pay in his 2008 Presidential Campaign platform.

Merit is defined as demonstrated ability or achievement. The Merriam-

Webster Dictionary defines merit system as: a system by which
appointments and promotions in the civil service are based on competence
rather than political favoritism.

The current pay system of most traditional public schools has little to do with
teacher achievement or skill. Instead, salary systems are based on union
negotiations. The union enters into a contractual agreement with the district,
in which a yearly raise of a specified percentage is determined for all
employees. In addition, “step” raises are agreed upon, to reward teachers
for length of service. The third part of the salary scale involves credits
earned beyond one’s highest educational degree.

A typical teachers’ salary pay chart is shown below. Entry-level teachers get
hired somewhere near the top, left section of the pay chart. The highest
salary is shown on the bottom right. The chart shows a positive differential
of about $40K between a teacher just starting out and one who has been in
the district for 15 years.
 Merit Pay for Teachers: Count Me In

While merit pay incentives have been receiving recent attention, ask
someone outside or even inside the profession to describe a merit system
and you’ll likely get a long pause or a blank stare.

In the interest of disclosure, my own salary as a 16 year teacher with over

60 credits beyond my Master’s degree is over $78,000 per year. My husband
has been out of regular work for almost three years, yet with my generous
salary, we’ve been able to pay our household and related bills. Despite being
on the top of the pay chart, I am dissatisfied with my salary, in a sense. I
would much rather be at the top of the pay chart because of my value to
the district, not simply because of “x” years of service and having earned “y”
graduate credits. I would gladly take a substantial cut in pay and in return
be rewarded financially for innovations in improving teaching and learning in
my district.

Initiating merit pay does not necessarily mean doing away with unions. One
suggestion is keeping the entry pay rate of a new teacher relatively the
same but adjusting the salary numbers on the lower right. I would propose
cutting the differential between lowest and highest paid teachers in half. For
example, in the chart shown above, the teachers’ salary at the upper left,
the Bachelor level, Step 1, would remain at $38.080. The pay cuts would
apply at the lower right hand corner. Specifically the M+60 teachers on Step
15 would now make $38,080 + 0.5($81,243 – $38,080), or $51,661.50. Of
course that is assuming traditional schools continue with union negotiations
for salary and benefits. The district would save $29,581.50 for each teacher
at the top of the pay scale. And all teachers interested in doing more than
what is contractually required would be eligible for merit pay raises.

A common misconception related to merit pay is teacher’s pay should be tied

to standardized test scores. Consider the teacher who inherits students who
have had ineffective teacher(s) the previous year(s). Some students freeze
up on high stakes tests due to increased levels of anxiety. Other students
don’t take these tests seriously because they understand the scores are not
factored into report card grades. While I am not opposed to standardized
test scores as a measure of the student’s overall understanding of curricular
material, I do not believe the scores are a reliable indicator of the teacher’s
performance.
 Merit Pay for Teachers: Count Me In

Pausing briefly on assessment, good instruction begins with a pre-test,

carefully planned lessons which meet a wide range of learners, informal
assessments woven throughout, and ends with a post-test or performance
task. Teachers who do more than required allow students to retake tests
with the goal in mind of students ultimately mastering the material. School-
wide or district-wide pre and post assessments as incentives for increased
pay should not be ruled out.

The teacher’s contractual day starts somewhere around 7:30 – 9:00 AM and
ends approximately 6 hours later. Many teachers extend their day, without
compensation, by offering extra credit opportunities, hosting after school
clubs, holding teacher detentions, and/or providing tutoring for struggling
learners. Why not offer monetary rewards for teachers who extend their
day? When teachers stay late to support students, instructional time is
increased, which results in improved student learning.

While some teachers may not choose to work with students past the
contractual day, they may opt to work on other initiatives such as improving
school climate. These teachers donate time and expertise to make school-
wide improvements. They, too, should also be compensated for their time
and efforts.

Teachers who write articles that get published are rarely, if ever, rewarded
financially. Hundreds of hours of time, research, lesson development,
classroom anecdotes and reflection may have been devoted into an article
worthy of publication by a respected educational magazine. Wouldn’t the
district like to honor that teacher with additional pay?

Teachers who serve on district-wide and state-wide curriculum committees

naturally become the resident experts of their subject matter. Through
participating in committee work, they gain information about current
educational trends and acquire understanding of subtleties within the
learning standards. When they attend meetings, these teachers must write
lesson plans which are easy for the sub to follow and engaging for students.
Being compensated for serving on such committees would be an incentive
for teachers to participate.
 Merit Pay for Teachers: Count Me In

Can energy conservation play a part? Should a teacher who consumes less
energy, optimizes the natural light of the classroom, purposes to re-use
materials and work toward a “paper-less classroom” be rewarded financially?
Not only is that teacher saving the district money on utility bills, he/she is
also setting a good example for students.

Many teachers spend their own time and resources to engage in meaningful
professional development (PD). They take classes on the evenings,
weekends and summers. They improve instruction by trying new activities
with their classes. These teachers often lead high-quality PD themselves
both in their district and beyond, on a state-wide or even a national level.
Who could argue against compensating them financially for their efforts?

With home computers becoming more commonplace, teachers have more

opportunities to improve communication with the home. Emails, notes,
progress reports, phone calls, websites, and face to face meetings keep the
parents involved. Students who are out for extended absences can be
included in the classroom via skype and electronic attachments of assigned
work. Teachers could keep logs documenting communication with the home.
In addition, parents could complete a simple rating system of the teacher’s
communication efforts.

Effective instruction doesn’t happen by just “winging it”. Skilled teachers

don’t merely take dusty binders off shelves and reuse lessons year after
year. To the contrary, they continually revise lessons, even scrapping them
at times. With only 180 days of instructional time, purposeful teachers plan
each lesson with thoughtful diligence. Ideally there should be very few days
when an evaluator would walk into a teacher’s classroom and not observe
innovative teaching and learning. In the merit system, unannounced
observations could be more frequent, and the teachers who work to improve
instruction could be rewarded.

Although it would be Utopian to have unlimited manipulatives at our

fingertips, districts realistically can’t write blank checks. Motivated teachers
write grants to obtain reusable materials and often share with colleagues.
Districts could reward these teachers who are successful in obtaining grants
for materials, since the district didn’t have to purchase those materials
themselves.
 Merit Pay for Teachers: Count Me In

With our current dismal economy, budget cuts and looming lay-offs, it is high
time that educators, unions and stakeholders consider merit pay. Let’s lose
the tunnel vision about test scores solely dictating teachers’ pay, and discuss
other merit initiatives. Teachers who do extra research, serve on committees
beyond the school day, get published in curricular journals, receive teaching
awards, secure grants, conserve energy, go the extra mile communicating
with home, deliver powerful, standards-based instruction, lead high quality
professional development and stay current in their content areas should be
compensated richly for their efforts.