Merit Pay
“I’ve become convinced that when it comes to actually designing this program, the governor ought to stay out of it,” Kasich said after the meeting at Ashland University. “I’d be the most comfortable if the teachers themselves could put together what they think is a fair process.”
. The recently enacted two-year state budget calls for every school district to adopt a new-teacher-evaluation system by the start of the 2013-14 school year. It must conform to a framework that the state Department of Education is to develop this year.
. That framework will require that 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation be tied to student academic performance, a provision follows a key element of the federal Race to the Top program. More than half of Ohio districts are participating, sharing in $400 million in funding.
. Heather Woodyard, a teacher at Walnut Hills High School, said many in her district do not fear switching to a merit pay system, because teacher evaluations have taken place in her district for years. “But you have to allow districts to tailor (merit pay) to the specific settings in their communities,” Woodyard said.
. How CPS ties performance to pay. (A piece included in the article) Source: Cincinnati Federation of Teachers.
Source: Kasich asks Ohio teachers to design merit-pay plan. By Joe Vardon Columbus Dispatch. Published in The Enquirer 7/17/11 B5
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A new teacher merit-pay system probably will be included in the final state budget, which could take shape today if a conference committee is ready to start plowing through more than 500 differences between the house- and Senate-passed versions of the bill.
“I believe that we will have language on merit pay,” Gov. John Kasich said Thursday. “I want to commend the mayor of Cleveland for saying he thinks merit pay makes sense.”
The House budget included an extensive teacher merit-pay system that would scrap the salary schedule that awards raises based on years of experience and educational attainment.
But Senate Republicans stripped the system from the budget, saying that although they supported the concept, they were concerned about entanglements with districts already developing teacher-evaluation systems through Race to the Top, a federal program pouring $400 million into the state.
Senate President Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond, said merit pay will focus on the Race to the Top provisions, which more than 300 districts are preparing.
Teachers unions have strongly opposed a statewide merit-pay system.
Columbus schools are among those participating in Race to the Top. Superintendent Gene Harris said this week she isn’t opposed to a state merit-pay system, but she is concerned that districts get enough time to implement it and have the resources to evaluate 4,000 teachers each year.
Niehaus said schools will get enough time; “I think a key component of this is getting the teachers involved in the process and getting their thought.”
Source: State budget likely to have teacher merit pay system. By Jim Siegel. The Columbus dispatch The Enquirer 6/24/11 C`11
