Opposing opinions about teacher merit pay aired during informational hearing

Opposing opinions about teacher merit pay aired during informational hearing - A report from the KS Association of School Boards

Opposing opinions about the value of a teacher merit pay system was aired Tuesday during an informational hearing before the House Education Committee.

In his State of the State speech last week, Gov. Sam Brownback said merit pay should be part of any new school finance plan.

Before the Education Committee, Brownback’s policy director, Brandon Wilson, said the governor supported merit pay in general but didn’t have a specific proposal and thought of local school districts should be in charge of formulating plans specific to their districts.

KASB's Mark Tallman, associate executive director for advocacy, reiterated KASB's position in opposition to a state-mandated plan.

Tallman said school boards can already provide performance-based pay but should not be required to do so by the state.

He also said, “KASB is not aware of any research-based consensus that pay for performance improves overall results.” Here is a link to KASB’s testimony.

KNEA’s Mark Desetti and other school advocates said merit pay for teachers would hurt schools and students because teachers, who routinely collaborate to help students, would stop doing that in the competition for bonuses.

But proponents of merit pay said it would help retain quality teachers.

David Dorsey, a former teacher and now a senior education policy analyst with the Kansas Policy Institute, said, “The current system is a one-size-fits-all approach that fails to recognize differences among teachers and teaching assignments. Teachers don’t make widgets, they don’t work on an assembly line. It makes no sense that they get paid as if they do.”

Dorsey added that legislators should have faith in local school boards and their appointed administrators “to recognize teacher quality and assume the responsibility to reward it.”

Two teachers — Bruce Wellman and Monte Slaven — said Kansas should step up efforts to have teachers qualify under the National Board Certification program.

They said the highly-regarded system analyzes a teacher’s performance and abilities in numerous ways and provides a fair, rigorous and objective measure of teaching skills.

The state rewarded teachers who achieved NBC designation but then stopped funding it for several years. Program funding began again last year.