Utah’s teachers, like teachers across the nation, have traditionally been paid based upon salary schedules which reward years of experience and advanced college degrees. I am concerned with the fact that this system compensates our Best Teachers at the same level of pay as our Worst Teachers; this is simply wrong! Utah’s Best Teachers deserve better pay.
Two new studies: Is there a “Qualified Teacher” Shortage? and When Principals Rate Teachers, clearly present data that demonstrates that Merit Pay for Teachers is an idea whose time has come.
The first study, Is there a “Qualified Teacher” Shortage?, states, “there may be a good case for raising the pay of some teachers…”.The study does not support increases for all teachers pointing out that such across-the-board increases Do Not improve student performance and are not cost effective. The study favors paying the best teachers and those with specialized skills more money, but recognizes paying the best and worst teachers the same money drives our best teachers out of the profession:“…suppressing performance- or field based pay differentials…may be driving highly able teachers out of the profession.
The second study, When Principals Rate Teachers (co-authored by BYU professor Lars Lefgren) provides empirical proof of what we all know: Teachers can easily be grouped into three categories: Top Performers, Middle Performers, and Poor Performers. Moreover, the study points out that objective measures such as test scores correlate well with the simple, sometimes subjective, assessment of Principals in determining which teachers are Top Performers and which belong at the bottom.
I recently read “Winning”, the bestseller, by Jack Welch, legendary former GE CEO and chairman, during the growth of one of the world's most successful companies. Welch decided every employee at General Electric should be ranked from top to bottom. The top 20% were stars to be nurtured and given incentives to excel. The middle 70% were also crucial because they made up the majority. But, a smart company would identify the bottom 10% and weed them out. The data in these new studies clearly demonstrate that Jack Welsh’s successful 20-70-10 program would work well in the teaching profession; resulting in 1 in 5 teachers being paid more money.
Implementing a Merit Pay system has challenges: How are we to fairly determine which teachers are Top Performers to be nurtured and given increased pay and which teachers are to be managed out? Such a system can be developed using the well respected Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS) procedure for developing clear, fair and objective standards of job performance with the input of educators, parents, and community leaders. The Utah State Legislature should tie additional funding for teacher pay raises to implementation of a Merit Pay system which is fair for all teachers and rewards our Best and Brightest.
