The idea of merit pay for teachers could be a hot item in this legislative session. Whether teachers unions go along remains to be seen.
Traditionally, they have resisted the idea, going back a couple of decades.
Back then, the Utah Education Association even rallied enough support to overturn a voucher bill through a referendum vote in 2007.
But that was then.
Traditionally, they have resisted the idea, going back a couple of decades.
Back then, the Utah Education Association even rallied enough support to overturn a voucher bill through a referendum vote in 2007.
But that was then.
Last year, lawmakers succeeded in finally passing a voucher program, although it became known instead as the “Utah education fits all scholarship.” Could a merit pay system be next? Could it be one that dangles the possibility of, to use a colloquialism, real money?
Senate President Stuart Adams raised the issue during his speech to senators on opening day of the 2024 legislative session.
“During this session, we will prioritize creating an optional program to sustain and reward high-performing teachers,” he said. “The goal is to identify the best-performing teachers and reward their efforts by increasing their salaries to $100,000. It is important to compensate them for their dedication and improvement of student outcomes.”
One hundred grand could take teaching to a new level in Utah. It might even attract more college students to the profession. Republican lawmakers already like to boast that starting salaries in many school districts now are $60,000 or more, which is higher than in many states.
Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, said his aim is to improve teacher retention. A legislative performance audit two years ago found that 43% of new teachers quit or leave the state within the first five years.
“I’m working to tackle that problem with a multi-faceted approach that includes lighter regulation on teachers, empowering them inside of their classrooms and rewarding them financially for high performance,” he told media members in the Senate president’s office on Tuesday.
Teachers, he said, should enter the profession knowing it’s a $100,000 career. They should think to themselves, “I don’t have to leave teaching to go into administration or to go to some other field in order to support a family on a single income.”
Fillmore said the bill won’t be ready for another week or two.
It could meet stiff resistance.
A spokeswoman for the UEA declined to comment until the bill is officially filed. Fillmore told me he has been working with the union to try to gain support.
But the National Education Association has been consistent in its, shall we say, skepticism about merit pay. An essay on its website about the federal Every Student Succeeds Act lists problems with the idea. As always, the details — how will teachers be evaluated (Student test scores? Student improvements?), and by whom — are the main sticking points.
Among other things, “the (test) scores do not take into account many outside factors that are out of the educators’ control. These may include class size and teaching high-needs students,” the website said. “There are also factors that contribute to variances in test scores that are not related to educators, including student/family background, poverty, and other outside influences.”
Which sounds a lot like the problems inherent in any employee evaluation system in any industry. There is a certain amount of subjectivity involved, on the part of managers. Yes, office politics may even be involved.
But who would want to take a job where performance could never be rewarded with higher pay? Good teachers don’t enter the profession for the salary. But that could be said of hard workers in many different fields, and it doesn’t mean a reward with extra pay isn’t a meaningful incentive.
And don’t overthink this. At every public school my children attended, parents could tell you the names of the best teachers.
Adams suggested a “master teacher designation” for the top instructors, and that others could learn from what those teachers are doing. He said the joy of teaching comes from the “adrenaline rush” that comes from helping someone learn.
“If we can get every teacher to be high-performing, and in addition to pay them (well), they’ll stay,” he said.
It certainly seems worth a try.
Senate President Stuart Adams raised the issue during his speech to senators on opening day of the 2024 legislative session.
“During this session, we will prioritize creating an optional program to sustain and reward high-performing teachers,” he said. “The goal is to identify the best-performing teachers and reward their efforts by increasing their salaries to $100,000. It is important to compensate them for their dedication and improvement of student outcomes.”
One hundred grand could take teaching to a new level in Utah. It might even attract more college students to the profession. Republican lawmakers already like to boast that starting salaries in many school districts now are $60,000 or more, which is higher than in many states.
Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, said his aim is to improve teacher retention. A legislative performance audit two years ago found that 43% of new teachers quit or leave the state within the first five years.
“I’m working to tackle that problem with a multi-faceted approach that includes lighter regulation on teachers, empowering them inside of their classrooms and rewarding them financially for high performance,” he told media members in the Senate president’s office on Tuesday.
Teachers, he said, should enter the profession knowing it’s a $100,000 career. They should think to themselves, “I don’t have to leave teaching to go into administration or to go to some other field in order to support a family on a single income.”
Fillmore said the bill won’t be ready for another week or two.
It could meet stiff resistance.
A spokeswoman for the UEA declined to comment until the bill is officially filed. Fillmore told me he has been working with the union to try to gain support.
But the National Education Association has been consistent in its, shall we say, skepticism about merit pay. An essay on its website about the federal Every Student Succeeds Act lists problems with the idea. As always, the details — how will teachers be evaluated (Student test scores? Student improvements?), and by whom — are the main sticking points.
Among other things, “the (test) scores do not take into account many outside factors that are out of the educators’ control. These may include class size and teaching high-needs students,” the website said. “There are also factors that contribute to variances in test scores that are not related to educators, including student/family background, poverty, and other outside influences.”
Which sounds a lot like the problems inherent in any employee evaluation system in any industry. There is a certain amount of subjectivity involved, on the part of managers. Yes, office politics may even be involved.
But who would want to take a job where performance could never be rewarded with higher pay? Good teachers don’t enter the profession for the salary. But that could be said of hard workers in many different fields, and it doesn’t mean a reward with extra pay isn’t a meaningful incentive.
And don’t overthink this. At every public school my children attended, parents could tell you the names of the best teachers.
Adams suggested a “master teacher designation” for the top instructors, and that others could learn from what those teachers are doing. He said the joy of teaching comes from the “adrenaline rush” that comes from helping someone learn.
“If we can get every teacher to be high-performing, and in addition to pay them (well), they’ll stay,” he said.
It certainly seems worth a try.
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