Gov. Robert Ehrlich has introduced a plan to add reward bonuses to teachers? salaries, but Carroll County union officials are skeptical of such merit pay programs.
“It?s very subjective who gets the merit pay,” said Barry Potts, president of the Carroll County Education Association.
Last year, a committee of Carroll County school administrators, teachers and union representatives met to consider merit pay, but they found there was not a program in the country that was successful, Potts said.
The programs lack clearly defined criteria, often creating competition between teachers, he said.
Ehrlich?s plan, introduced Tuesday and called the Quality Compensation Initiative, includes $800,000 in the state fiscal year 2008 budget to go toward planning a program to reward teachers who excel.
The Maryland Department of Education would use the money to partner with local jurisdictions and determine the standards to base the rewards, said Ehrlich?s spokesman Henry Fawell.
This initial funding doesn?t include money for the additional compensation. That money would be included in the fiscal 2009 budget, he said.
“It?s in conceptual stages now,” Fawellsaid. “The goal is to reward teachers who meet certain benchmarks such as advanced degree or student performance.”
The Maryland State Teachers Association does not support merit pay, said spokeswoman Debra Williams-Garner. There are currently no merit pay programs in place in the state, she said.
“We believe all teachers should be paid fairly across the board,” Williams-Garner said.
