Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell outlined a pay-for-performance proposal for Virginia teachers Tuesday, a thorny issue that traditionally has been met with strong opposition from teachers unions across the country. The plan, part of McDonnell’s K-12 legislative agenda, would provide competitive grants for “hard-to-staff” school divisions in each of eight superintendents’ regions across the state and award incentives of up to $5,000 to teachers in eligible schools during the 2011-2012 school year.
“Our hope is that these grants will attract good teachers to schools that, for example, may be on the verge of losing their accreditation, have trouble with attendance, or have a large number of limited-English-proficient students — with a goal that these teachers will help to turn the performance at these schools around and help their students reach higher achievement marks,” McDonnell said.
About 190 schools are on this year’s list of schools that would stand to benefit from the program, including about 50 in Northern Virginia.
| What makes a school ‘hard to staff’? |
| Under the initiative, a “hard-to-staff” school meets at least four of the following criteria: |
| » Accredited with warning. |
| » Average daily attendance rate is two percentage points below the statewide average. |
| » Percent of special education students exceeds 150 percent of the statewide average. |
| » Percent of limited English proficient students exceeds 150 percent of statewide average. |
| » Percent of teachers with provisional licenses exceeds 150 percent of statewide average. |
| » Percent of special education teachers with provisional special education licenses exceeds 150 percent of statewide average. |
| » Percent of inexperienced teachers hired to total teachers exceeds 150 percent of the statewide average. |
| » School has one or more inexperienced teachers in a critical shortage area. |
| Source: Office of the government |
| Number of ‘Hard-to-staff’ schools in Northern Virginia |
| Arlington County: 17 |
| Fairfax County: 9 |
| Loudoun County: 5 |
| Prince William County: 12 |
| Alexandria: 8 |
| Manassas: 2 |
| Manassas Park: 2 |
| Source: Virginia Department of Education, 2010-2011 school year |
The issue of merit-based pay for teachers, though, has traditionally been met with resistance from unions and other education professionals.
“We’ve got some grave concerns about it,” said Tom Smith, legislative liaison for the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, arguing that the guidelines haven’t been fully fleshed out with a June 15 deadline for grant proposals fast approaching.
“We’re saying that we’re going to provide pay-for-performance for some school teachers in the commonwealth when [other] schoolteachers haven’t received a raise,” he added. “Without a pay raise, to then go into pay-for-performance is difficult for us.”
Former D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee last year muscled through a new contract with the teachers union that essentially eliminated tenure, dismissed teachers rated ineffective based on classroom evaluations and student test scores, and instituted a system in which top-performing teachers could earn six-figure salaries.
Across the Potomac, Fairfax County tried to impose a merit-based pay system about 20 years ago that failed, said Steve Greenburg, president of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers.
“If you even say the term ‘merit pay’ in Fairfax County Public Schools, people who have been around, they just cringe,” Greenburg said.
One problem was an assumption that there would be no limit on the size of bonuses that could be awarded to teachers, Greenburg said, when principals were given a specific amount of money to distribute — leaving both sides in difficult positions.
“The impact was devastating in the work force,” he said.
The issue is a nonstarter in Montgomery County.
“I couldn’t support something like that at this point,” said Councilman Phil Andrews, D-Gaithersburg/Rockville, who sits on the education committee. “I don’t know that it’s necessary to accomplish the goal of having excellent teachers in every school. I don’t know that there is a significant different in the quality of teaching from school to school in Montgomery.”
Examiner Staff Writer Brian Hughes contributed to this report. [email protected]
