A Florida Promise: Teacher Pay
Rewarding Teachers for Excellence
Next to parents and the students themselves, teachers are the single most important person in a student’s academic career. Because of that, teachers should be financially rewarded for their expertise, unique skills and duties, and their excellence.
Traditionally, school districts and teachers unions have negotiated teacher salaries based on years of service and level of education, essentially the degree – a Bachelor, Masters or Doctorate – earned by the teacher.
Beginning with the 2007-08 school year, state law requires teachers unions and school districts to consider additional factors, including the subject taught, school demographics and job responsibilities, in negotiating salaries. This requirement makes sense.
First, teachers should be paid based on the job market for their specific skills. Some districts may have a shortage of math teachers, physics teachers or teachers for students with disabilities. Many times, individuals who have the skills or knowledge for these positions have higher paying job offers in non-teaching professions. Paying these teachers more will make these hard-to-fill positions more competitive in the open job market.
Second, teachers should be paid based on the schools in which they teach. Schools with a majority of students from low-income families have additional challenges. Teachers faced with those additional challenges should earn more. Some have referred to this as “combat pay,” others as “common-sense.” If we want to attract the best and brightest teachers to underserved schools, we should pay them more for choosing to take on the more difficult assignment.
Third, teachers should be paid based on their responsibilities. If a teacher accepts additional responsibility or a leadership position, their salary should reflect their workload. Teachers who mentor new teachers or serve as lead teachers for a grade or subject area should be paid more.
In addition to better pay for basic job responsibilities, teachers should be rewarded for performance. For several years, state law has required teachers unions and school districts to provide bonuses or “merit pay” to teachers based on student learning but too many school districts failed to implement the requirement. In 2005, only two-thirds of the state’s school districts gave bonuses to teachers. Eight of the 24 school districts that didn’t reward teachers gave bonuses to administrators.
The metrics for merit pay are simple and straightforward. Merit pay should be based on student learning. Teachers should be rewarded for both students’ achievement and progress, even if students are not yet on grade level. All teachers should be eligible for a bonus – regardless of whether their subjects are tested on the FCAT – but not all teachers should get one. Giving all teachers a bonus defeats the purpose of rewarding excellence. Merit pay should be meaningful – meaning it should be enough to make a difference in a teacher’s salary.
