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The Governor’s Educator Excellence Award program will grant funds to Texas teachers who succeed in economically disadvantaged schools. The plan was developed by the Texas Education Agency, following a Nov. 2, 2005, executive order from Gov. Rick Perry directing Commissioner of Education Shirley J. Neeley to establish a new incentive-based pay system. Plans are for the program to run for three years, with $10 million in federal funding for the first year, though state leaders are actively exploring ways to gain additional funds to expand the program. Under the plan, schools serving a large population of economically disadvantaged students that show marked improvement in student performance are eligible for grants ranging from $60,000 to $180,000, depending on the school’s size, with recommended salary bonuses ranging from $3,000 to $10,000 per individual.

TEA has identified about 100 of the state’s 7,800 schools that met the criteria, as follows:

Ranking within the top third of campuses with highest percentages of economically disadvantaged students in each school category—elementary, middle, high, and all-grade campuses;

AND ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:

  • Rating of “exemplary” or “recognized”
  • Top quartile performance on Comparable Improvement in Math and/or Reading.
  • TAKS passing rates, if it is a registered alternative education campus with at least 30 enrolled students.

A school with 449 students or fewer is eligible for $60,000 per year; with 450-699 students for $90,000 per year; with 700 to 1,199 students for $135,000 per year; with 1,200 or more students for $180,000 per year. Identified campuses must receive ratings of academically acceptable or better to maintain eligibility. Grant applications are due May 16, 2006, and teacher incentive payments must be distributed by Sept. 15, 2006.

A campus-level decision making body determines and approves the incentive plan and the distribution of incentive funds prior to consideration at the district level. At least 75 percent of the grant must go directly to those teachers who demonstrate success in improving student performance using objective, quantifiable measures, such as local benchmarking systems, portfolio assessment, end-of-course tests, and other assessments that show that academic growth exceeded expectations. The teachers also must show collaboration with other faculty and staff that contributed to improving overall student performance on the campus. The remaining 25 percent of the funds may be used to provide incentive pay to additional teachers, principals, assistant principals, counselors, speech therapists, instructional coaches, teacher aides, nurses, librarians, custodial staff and other campus personnel who have contributed to increased student achievement. Athletic coaches are not eligible for the incentive, unless they also teach academic classes for four or more hours a day. These funds also can be used to provide training to teachers, to support activities for mentoring or teacher induction programs, or for signing bonuses for those teaching in high-need subject areas.

More information on the program, including a FAQ document and application, are available on the TEA Web site.

TCTA’s position on teacher incentives

TCTA has pointed out repeatedly that every expert on the issue has warned that base pay must be viewed as adequate before instituting incentive pay, and we will not have adequate base pay until we receive a substantial across-the-board pay raise for our current teachers (the latest national salary survey shows Texas ranked 33rd in the nation for teacher pay). We also have noted that a substantial teacher shortage exists in Texas that has not lessened in recent years. The cost of total teacher turnover to this state has been determined to be between $329 million and $2.1 billion per year, depending on the model used. Clearly, the state needs to focus on teacher retention. Since survey after survey shows that teachers are leaving the profession in droves because of low salaries and poor working conditions, it seems obvious that the state needs to address this by providing a substantial across-the-board pay raise for teachers. Finally, we have stated that we are open to certain types of incentive pay, such as incentives for mentoring, teaching in subject shortage areas, and in hard-to-staff schools. However, we have strong concerns about incentive pay that ties teacher pay to student performance.

Focus on incentives ongoing

The Senate Select Committee on Education Reform and Public School Finance has been holding regular hearings focusing on various aspects of education reform, including teacher incentive pay. At its late February meeting, the committee heard from various experts about teacher incentive pay, including at least one nationally known proponent of incentive pay, Dr. Eric Hanushek, with the Texas Schools Project at the University of Texas at Dallas and the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. During his testimony, Dr. Hanushek argued that an across-the-board pay increase for teachers would do nothing to improve teacher quality, stating that it would only serve to keep “bad” teachers in the profession, rather than encouraging them to leave to clear the way for good teachers to take their place. At the same time, Dr. Hanushek admitted frailties in our testing system that could impair the ability to use incentives in all the different situations occurring in schools (i. e., not all grade levels and subjects tested, ability of test to cover entire spectrum of students), as well as raising doubt about the ability to accurately isolate teacher impact on student performance as the basis for incentive pay. He also stated that because of so much resistance to teacher incentive pay, there are very few teacher incentive programs, nationally or in Texas, and accordingly, very little in the way of evidence to determine whether incentive pay works to increase student achievement.

In addition to the Senate Select committee, a stakeholder group has been formed by the chair of the committee, Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano), to examine teacher compensation, including incentive pay. Although the group has met several times, hearing from different experts on teacher incentive pay, including representatives from the Denver Pro Comp system and the Milken Teacher Advancement Program, it appears that no consensus among the group is being formed yet regarding the components of a successful compensation system for teachers. The group has at least one other upcoming meeting scheduled at this time.

TCTA fully expects to see legislative attempts to adopt a statewide incentive program for teachers in the upcoming special legislative session. With the governor’s incentive plan already under way and another scheduled for take-off in the fall in Houston ISD, TCTA encourages legislators to see how these plans impact teacher salaries and the general retention of teachers before implementing a statewide system.