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SALT LAKE CITY -- Performance pay for teachers statewide will get a closer look at the 2012 Utah legislative session, with two potential bills surfacing.
Both Sen. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, and Sen. Aaron Osmond, R-South Jordan, are working on measures, Adams told KSL NewsRadio.
"The general consensus is that the step and lane program needs to be changed," Adams said.
Adams said his concern is more teachers are leaving their profession to become administrators.
"Good educators are hard to come by, and we need to find a way to keep them in the classroom," Adams said.
Good educators are hard to come by, and we need to find a way to keep them in the classroom.
–Sen. Stuart Adams
A call Tuesday to Sen. Osmond was not returned.
Adams acknowledged there is a lot of work to be done to ensure it is done right. State superintendent Larry Shumway said doing this "the right way" is important.
"Depending upon how the bills are written, I suspect the board could support a bill on performance pay," Shumway said. "Of course, there are details that are important."
Among the questions teachers have raised about performance pay - whether all teachers under the system would go back to a single flat rate and their performance would boost pay from there, and whether the influence of parent "satisfaction" would effectively coerce teachers to give more "A" grades.
In an Aug. 15 interview on KSL's "Sunday Edition" program, UEA president Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh questioned the efficacy of a merit pay program, and expressed concern that the program would place too much emphasis on testing.
"People who enter the teaching profession are not entering the profession because it pays big dollars, but we do have a very clear understanding of what constitutes education excellence in the classroom. Some of the things that we are concerned about may be eroded by a program such as pay for performance based on test scores, are things like collaboration, acquisition of skills and knowledge, mentoring," Fishbaugh said.
"Good teachers use tests to design and inform their instruction, not as a reward for pay," she added.
Wednesday she told Utah's Morning News she wants to make sure it's not unfairly weighted on test scores and that teachers are involved.
Related:
In Idaho, teacher bonuses depend on parents
Parents across Idaho will now play a role in whether or not their child's teacher gets a raise.Shumway said the state just completed a performance pay pilot program at five elementary schools over two years. Educators had the chance to earn up to an additional $2,000 for success in the classroom. He said anecdotal feedback has been positive.
Performance at those schools was weighed versus three factors: quality of education in the classroom, student performance and parent or community satisfaction.
"After all of this, everyone wants to assure themselves that this will be fair - but I don't think anyone is questioning whether the parents' participation in this is a problem," Shumway said.
Written by Mary Richards and Andrew Adams.
