Maybe Obama's kids' school should be model for reform

Before he died unexpectedly on Oct. 20, nationally known education researcher Gerald Bracey (bestower of the Rotten Apple awards) took fresh aim at President Obama's education agenda. In his 18th and final Bracey Report, he followed up on another researcher who suggested Obama should make the model of education he chose for his daughters -- at the Sidwell Friends private school -- a model for national reform.

Pasco prepares to debate performance pay

With negotiations all over but the counting, Pasco County's teachers and school district administrators are making plans to get back to negotiating again.

Representatives from the district and the United School Employees of Pasco have told the Gradebook that they expect to get together after winter break to begin talks over how to implement performance and differential pay.

Survey: Younger teachers more open to merit pay, but ...

Generation Y teachers (those born since 1977) are more likely than older teachers to support the idea of earning more money for working harder, and more likely to say that linking financial rewards to student performance might improve teaching, a new national survey finds.

But the survey from Public Agenda and Learning Point Associates also finds that younger teachers are less likely to support performance pay based on standardized test scores. And they're just as likely to say other things will improve teaching more, such as reducing class sizes, improving professional development opportunities or increasing teacher pay overall.

There are plenty of other interesting nuggets in the survey, including this one: 66 percent of teachers strongly agreed or somewhat agreed that "the union sometimes fights to protect teachers who really should be out of the classroom." That's up from 48 percent in 2003.

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Other Pinellas schools in mix for performance pay, differential pay

Teachers at Gibbs High won’t be the only ones in Pinellas who benefit from – or have to deal with – new performance pay and differential pay plans that are coming down the pipe. According to the state’s new differentiated accountability system, districts must also come up with those kinds of teacher pay plans for all D and F schools in Correct II status (among other categories that don’t apply in Pinellas, for now).

In Pinellas, that means all D high schools – Lakewood, Boca Ciega, Dixie Hollins, Dunedin, Countryside, Pinellas Park, Tarpon Springs and Largo.

Pinellas to consider performance pay, differential pay for teachers

The details aren't in yet, but the Pinellas school district and the Pinellas teachers union will soon be discussing plans for performance pay and differential pay for teachers - two things that Pinellas has famously resisted in the past.

"We have to come up with a way to reward people and to encourge them to work with our most needy students," Pinellas Superintendent Julie Janssen told the Gradebook today. She said she talked this morning to Marshall Ogletree, executive director of the Pinellas teachers union, and "they're ready to sit with us and design a plan."

Ogletree said initial discussions will focus on Gibbs High School, but that whatever is ultimately proposed there could be a template for other struggling schools. Ogletree said the state's new differentiated accountability system is helping to drive the discussion - it requires that districts implement performance pay and differential pay for low-performing schools - but he said the union had other motivations, too.

"It's kind of a cliche but we're trying to break the mold," he said. "We have to work on plans to close achievement gaps, no ifs, ands or buts about it."

Are teachers unions warming to tying test scores to performance?

Maybe, if last week's announcement by the American Federation of Teachers is any indication. Two winners of the AFT's new innovation grants -- including the Broward teachers union in South Florida -- will give some weight to standardized test scores when they design new teacher evaluation systems.

As we all know, efforts to tie FCAT scores to performance -- and to performance pay -- has made many a teacher want to hurl. The Broward proposal links test scores (and other factors) and compensation. So, what gives?

"I suspect they want to figure out how to use this data before it's imposed on them," Joe Williams, of Democrats for Education Reform, told Newsweek. (He was not referring to the Broward project specifically.)

Jeb Bush foundation to rate teachers based on multiple years of FCAT data

Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education will rate Florida’s teachers again this year, but with a potentially far-reaching new twist: It'll use several years’ worth of FCAT data. This may sound wonky as all get out, but if you’re a teacher you’ll want to pay close attention.

Last year, the foundation honored what it said were Florida’s best teachers based on a single year’s gains in FCAT scores. That criteria drew criticism from researchers who said one year’s data is too volatile to get an accurate measure of teacher quality. A teacher whose students made gains big enough to propel her into the top quartile one year might fall to mid-range the next year, they said. But if you look at multiple years worth of data, they continued, you’re likely to find some teachers consistently squeeze big gains out of their students (while others consistently squeeze nothing.)

This year, Jeb’s foundation is partnering with the American Institutes of Research to analyze three year’s worth of FCAT data, foundation spokeswoman Kristy Campbell tells the Gradebook. The former governor and AIR researchers are expected to talk about this in more detail at the foundation’s summit in D.C. later this week.

Study: Better teachers make their peers better

Better teachers not only improve their own students' academic performance, they lead to improved performance in other classrooms, a new study finds.

One way the authors defined "better" was by looking at gains in student test scores. They found evidence that teachers learn from higher-performing peers -- a finding with implications for merit and differential pay, and maybe even Florida's oft-criticized school recognition program.

The findings may be a strike against merit pay plans that reward individual teachers instead of teams, the authors say. At the same time, the study suggests that finding ways to bring higher-quality teachers into struggling schools -- and/or to keep them there -- could have spillover effects. (Hillsborough is way out front on this.)

"The fact that weaker and less experienced teachers are more responsive to peer quality than stronger and more experienced teachers suggests that novice teachers should be exposed to effective experienced teachers," the study says. "This would imply that the high concentration of novice teachers in inner-city schools could be particularly detrimental to student performance at these schools in both the long and the short run."

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Duncan: Teacher performance must be tied to student data

From U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in an interview in September issue of Kappan magazine:

In education, we've been so scared to talk about excellence. I don't understand that. Great teachers and great principals make a tremendous difference in students' lives. Talent matters tremendously in education. Great teachers and great principals are the unsung heroes in our society. They perform miracles every day. They change student lives on a daily basis ...

There are actually states that prohibit linking student data with teacher data. That, to me, is stunning. That totally devalues the profession. It basically says that teaching doesn't matter, that anybody can do this. We know there's tremendous variation there. In those situations, everyone loses. Teachers who are successful don't get rewarded. Teachers who are struggling don't get the support that they need. Teachers who shouldn't be teaching don't get moved out. So every adult loses. And when the adults lose, guess what? The children lose, too.

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Florida Democrats may push differential pay for teachers

Buried in the suggestions to the state on Race to the Top funds was this interesting nugget from the House Democratic Caucus:

To encourage high quality teaching in low-performing schools Florida should offer National Board Certified teachers incentives to help struggling students reach their full potential. Realizing that not all high quality teachers are board certified, an incentive program should be implemented for other high quality teachers to move into low performing schools. Also strong principals should be incentivized to lead low performing schools which will naturally attract high quality teachers because of their strong leadership.

By incentives, we hear, House Democrats mean money. And that could signal a big shift for Florida Democrats, who haven’t exactly been out front when it comes to differential pay for teachers in high-needs schools.

Outside of Hillsborough, not many districts in Florida offer meaningful differential pay plans. State Sen. Don Gaetz floated an in-the-works idea to change that last year, but it got derailed by budget woes. Could there be bipartisan cooperation on this one? Stay tuned for a bill.

Ron Matus, State Education Reporter

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Race to the Top suggestions are in

Should Florida extend the FCAT to kindergarten and first and second grades? Develop a performance pay program for principals? Invest in more guidance counselors?

Those ideas are among the recommendations sent to the Department of Education in recent weeks in response to Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith’s call for input on the state’s Race to the Top application. In total, 47 people responded by the Friday deadline – which seems underwhelming in light of the good the state might be able to do if handed oh, tens or even hundreds of millions of Race to the Top dollars by the feds (who have $4.35 billion to divvy up).

The Florida House Democratic Caucus offered one of the most detailed proposals (line 49), suggesting less reliance on the FCAT, more reliance on end-of-course exams and – maybe less predictably -- “incentives” for teachers working in high-poverty schools.

USF professor Sherman Dorn (line 8) hit on development of end-of-course exams, too, specifically in science.

Ron Matus, State Education Reporter

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For Florida schools with good grades, another $122 million

The state is handing out $122 million this year to 2,103 schools with A and/or improving grades, a fall ritual that began under former Gov. Jeb Bush and continues under Gov. Charlie Crist. (Crist is visiting a Tampa school today to tout the program ... see post below). You can see which schools got how much in “school recognition” money here.

School advisory councils determine what to do with the money. Many choose to convert it into modest bonuses for teachers. Here are the totals for districts around Tampa Bay:

Hernando: $872,805
Hillsborough: $8,195,408
Pasco: $3,109,947
Pinellas: $3,796,279

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Survey: 'Obama effect' sways public on charters, vouchers, teacher merit pay

Forget the facts. What does Obama think? People are much more supportive of charter schools and performance pay for teachers when they hear President Obama supports those policies, according to the latest survey from Education Next and the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard.

Poll: Americans want teachers paid more, differently

Most Americans think teachers should earn higher starting salaries, but a strong majority (72 percent) also favor merit pay, according to the results of the latest PDK/Gallup poll, released this morning.

The poll also found Americans have different opinions of teacher tenure, depending on how it is defined. If defined as a “lifetime contract” awarded after a two- to three-year period, 73 percent disapprove. If it’s defined as policy that ensures teachers are given a formal legal review before they can be fired, 66 percent approve.

A weekend interview with Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association president Jean Clements

Late last month, President Barack Obama announced his Race to the Top, a competitive grant challenge for states to make major reforms to their education systems. Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association president Jean Clements was one of just five speakers at the event, chosen to speak about her organization's efforts to improve teacher quality. She spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about how she got on the stage, and why she supports the president's initiative.

How in the world did you get invited to be one of only five speakers?

Isn't that an amazing fact? Yeah. I'm not exactly sure, except that it was through the American Federation of Teachers. ... Both (AFT and NEA) presidents were invited and allowed to bring a few people with them, just to be in the audience. And I don't know how it came to be that the AFT was offered the speaking spot on teaching quality. ... But when I got the call on Tuesday that I was being invited to sit in on a meeting with the President of the United States at the AFT's invitation, they told me that the AFT was going to be speaking on teacher quality. ...

Did you have any thought that they would say, 'Hey Jean, come talk'?

No. No. Not then. But by the next day ... the level of security clearance increased and the phone calls I was getting got a little more interesting. ... They were saying, there was just a really really remote possibility, just a remote possibility, that I could be the person that the AFT would have speaking on teacher quality. And I was speechless. My heart was racing. I was extremely nervous about that because now instead of being in the same room with the president I might be speaking on the same stage with the president. ...

Evidently their take on it is, if we're going to have people in the room with Race to the Top is unveiled, then we want to have local leaders from around the country where they know that these union leaders have done some extraordinary, different and not the classic traditional union types of things.

Stop right there. ... You are not ordinary in many ways, because you often wind up making agreements with the district that no other district is making. Things like performance pay. So the next question is, why are you so unusual?

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson still pushing performance pay ...

... in this letter about the Teacher Incentive Fund. (Hat tip Eduwonk.) Nelson, Florida's senior senator and a Democrat, weighed in on the issue last month, too.

Superintendents want to try performance pay for teachers

By a nearly 2-to-1 margin, superintendents across the country say they’re interested in pursuing performance pay for teachers, according to the results of this new survey from the American Association of School Administrators. But 65 percent of them said they’re worried about the accuracy of performance measures and 75 percent identified “teacher union resistance” as a potential obstacle. Which reminds us: Where’s Florida going with performance pay next year? We know districts never lined up to embrace the current plan.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson pushes teacher performance pay

Political lines are blurring so much on education reform, it’s hard not to get dizzy. The latest example: A group of 10 moderate Democrats in the Senate, including U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, telling President Barack Obama that they’d like to craft legislation supporting his push for performance pay for teachers, expansion of good charter schools and longer school days and school years. (Hat tip to Eduwonk.)

Here’s what their letter says about merit pay:

“We commend you for the emphasis you have placed on teacher quality. Every teacher touches the lives of countless children, and every adult remembers their favorite teachers and the impact they had. The research confirms what our intuition tells us: nothing has a greater impact on outcomes in the classroom than the quality of our teachers. We must do more to recruit, prepare and reward outstanding teachers, and part of that means overhauling the way we compensate them. Most professionals recognize and reward better performance with better pay, but teacher compensation is based almost exclusively on degree attainment and years of service.”

A critical take on teacher merit pay

If you want to keep up with the latest research on performance pay, pro and con, (and in Florida, it will continue to be a hot topic) check out this skeptical report released today by the Economic Policy Institute.

Contrary to assertions often made by supporters, EPI researchers say, merit pay is not widespread in the private sector, and is concentrated in the financial, insurance and real estate sectors.

“Policymakers should probably think twice before they transfer to education the pay system that has helped generate the global financial crisis,” writes EPI economist Joydeep Roy.

Ron Matus, state education reporter

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Report touts merit pay, doubts rewards for master's degree

It's not hard to find folks who argue it was the height of tone-deafiness for the state Board of Education to release a report this week urging more accountability reforms in the midst of historic budget cuts.

But bad timing aside, the out-of-state wonks who put the report together do make points that education experts of all political persuasions have been making. Like …

Keep trying on merit pay: In Florida, STAR didn't work. MAP is all but ignored. So, the wonks suggest, come up with something that combines a state system with more district flexibility. "Such flexibility would allow for a greater degree of experimentation and innovation, which is important given that we have little experience to draw upon when designing an optimal performance pay system for teachers."

Pay teachers for effectiveness, not their degrees: According to the report's estimates, Florida spends $180 million every year to pay 60,000 teachers more for their master's degrees. This despite reams of research that suggests all that extra higher ed doesn't do much for student achievement. (A few months back, Bill Gates bashed the idea.)

Ron Matus, state education reporter

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Some pointers on differential pay

If Pinellas is serious about pursuing financial incentives for teachers in tough schools, they might find some good ideas in this new report from the Center for American Progress. Since there aren’t many districts trying differential pay in a meaningful way (Hillsborough being an exception), the authors reviewed research on the subject in other sectors, including civil service, the military, the medical field and private industry.

It’s not clear what the magic number is, they say. But financial incentives in those other sectors tend to be 10 to 30 percent of an employee’s salary. So, if the average teacher in Pinellas makes $46,844 a year, the corresponding incentives would be in the $4,700 to $14,100 range.

We know budget cuts make a package like that impossible, for now. We know other factors are hugely important – the principal, working conditions, etc. But if that kind of money was on the table, teachers, would you at least think about it?

Pay for performance, kid style

Don't you just love that expression? The Washington Post captured it as D.C. sixth-grader Eboni McCallum opened her $34 check that she received as a reward for her behavior and academic performance.

But does the incentive of cash really lead to long-term higher achievement for students? That's a debate that continues across the nation.

California passed a bill over the summer allowing student performance pay. New York has paid some of its students who excel. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has led a spirited defense of the idea in public schools there, as critics call it bribery. Daley notes that suburban parents pay their kids for good grades, so why not let the city schools give a little something to students whose families can't afford it? And don't forget D.C.'s program, among others.

Florida has discussed the concept, but not moved much toward putting it in play. The House wouldn't even take up a bill on it last session, with leaders saying better ways exist to motivate students.

Frankly, we just wanted to post that great picture. But as we're on the subject anyway, let us hear what you think about cash rewards for students.

Bonuses don't provide security, FEA's Ford says

As long as base pay for Florida teachers lags behind the national average, rewarding educators based on merit is not the solution some think it is, a statewide teachers union official told the St. Petersburg Times editorial board this morning.

Teachers want security, something a bonus system simply doesn't provide, said Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association. Pay teachers a decent wage, Ford said, before moving the discussion to rewarding them for raising student achievement.

Offering teachers more money to work at more challenging schools isn’t necessarily the answer either, Ford said. Far more important in his opinion is making sure teachers at high-poverty, high-minority schools are supported by the principal and assistant principal.

Also important: ensuring that high-needs schools have enough social workers on hand so teachers can concentrate on teaching.

Ford’s remarks came as districts, including Pinellas, are considering the possibility of bonuses for teachers in high-needs schools.

Donna Winchester, higher education reporter

It's bonus time, and some teachers don't like it

It's that time of year again where schools are doling out bonuses to teachers and staff members.

Schools receiving recognition funds have until Nov. 1 to set up their plans, or all the money goes to classroom teachers only. Meanwhile, the handful of Florida districts to adopt the Merit Award Program for performance pay have begun distributing the checks.

You might think that the distribution of checks, particularly in these tight economic times, would bring a smile. But the money is wrapped up in politics, so the awards aren't necessarily going down easily.

For example, just check out this Pensacola News-Journal story about how Escambia teachers are practically embarrassed to admit they received the performance bonus while their colleagues did not. Or see this morning's Times story about how top-rated schools can struggle to distribute recognition funds.

Many educators suggest that such extras should not come at the expense of all the dedicated people who work daily for students and schools at too low pay. They have asked lawmakers to put the cash into salaries first, but to no avail.

"We shouldn't punish our high-performing teachers and our high-performing schools in tough economic times," said Rep. John Legg, a member of the House Schools and Learning Council.

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'The glitzy solution'

Pinellas teachers union chief Jade Moore (left) doesn't think much of an idea being floated by state Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville , to tweak the state's teacher bonus plans. Gaetz is proposing to add a differential-pay component to those programs, so effective teachers in high-poverty schools can earn even bigger bonuses than their peers.

Moore told The Gradebook that Gaetz's idea was a "glitzy solution" that would be better spent on things like longer school days and more time in pre-K.

Moore said poverty remains the biggest factor in student performance and that keeping more experienced teachers in high-poverty schools longer wouldn't bring much improvement. "I guarantee you if you put 25 rookie teachers in Garrison Jones (Elementary), that school would still get an A," Moore said. "And I guarantee if you put 25 national board certified teachers in Lakewood Elementary … they might go from a D to a C."

Moore questioned whether bigger bonuses would still be big enough to reduce turnover. But even if they were, he said, in this budget climate, the point is moot. "Could I justify right now spending $10,000 more having a teacher teach at Lakewood or Seventy Fourth Street (Elementary)?" he said. "I couldn't get that past anybody."

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

So if teachers like differential pay …

Polls like this one and this one suggest teachers really, really like the idea of getting paid more for working in schools that struggle more. So why is it that few Florida districts (Hillsborough aside) have even attempted meaningful programs that do that?

State Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, whose notions on differential pay sparked today's story in the St. Petersburg Times, offered this anecdote: Last year, an HR director in one district asked him if there are any penalties for ignoring the Legislature's 2006 directive, buried in the A++ plan, that requires every district to come up with a differential pay plan. The answer: No.

So the HR director continued: "If I try to get a differentiated pay system, I have to go into the valley of the shadow of the union. And I have all kinds of other things I have to worry about."

Mark Pudlow, spokesman for the state teachers union, said the obstacle to differential pay isn't the union, it's financial constraints and middling teacher salaries. "Teachers in Florida get paid way less (than many states)," he said. "That's a factor in it for sure."

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Researcher suggests scrapping teacher pay system

It's that time of year when teachers across Florida are negotiating for their pay and benefits.

In many counties, they're scrambling for scraps and begging for more. (See these stories about Pasco, Hernando, Broward and Manatee as but a few examples.)

A big part of the dispute centers on whether teachers will get raises (also known as "steps") based on their years of service. A Duke University researcher suggests that perhaps now is the time to throw out the whole pay system that rewards teachers for "valueless credentials" in favor of a front-end loaded wage plan.

"Numerous studies, including several based on North Carolina data, show no significant relationship between advanced degrees and effectiveness, with the possible exception of high school teachers who receive advanced training in their field of specialty," writes Jacob Vigdor (shown above) in Education Next. "An evidence-based salary schedule, accordingly, would pay no automatic premium for these degrees."

Vigdor acknowledges the political realities of implementing his idea, and suggests a phase in beginning with newly hired teachers might be a palatable way to get it in place. But he makes some interesting arguments on how a different pay plan might attract top teachers to enter the field and remain there. Check out the article and then let's hear what you think on this Labor Day.

Democratic divide?

If these strong words at the Democratic National Convention are any sign, the cracks in the Democratic Party over things like vouchers and merit pay are widening.

A gaggle of renegade Democrats – including NYC Chancellor Joel Klein and the mayors of Denver, Newark and D.C. – staged a three-hour forum in Denver Sunday that included a fair amount of anti-teachers-union rhetoric.

"As Democrats, we have been wrong on education," said Newark Mayor Cory Booker (shown above). "It's time to get right."

Florida Democrats haven't been as split, unless you consider the growing rift over vouchers or put stock in Jeb's report card (how did 9 Democrats get A's?!).

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

More problems with merit pay

As if Florida teachers didn't hate the state's Merit Award Program enough already. Now comes word that nearly 600 Brevard County teachers who qualified for $2,241 bonuses will not only not get them because there isn't enough money, but that a lottery system will be used to determine which ones do.

"It's like dangling a carrot in front of their faces," Janet Eastman, president of the Brevard Federation of Teachers, told Florida Today. "So many of you qualify, but guess what? You don't get it."

By coincidence, merit pay may be up for discussion when the state Board of Education meets in Tallahassee Tuesday. On the agenda: Commissioner Eric J. Smith's "Next Generation Strategic Plan," which includes implementing a new "comprehensive performance pay plan."

The details aren't out yet. But Smith's draft mentions improving and integrating MAP, school recognition money and differential pay into a new plan and possibly integrating the bonuses for teachers who are national board certified.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Want administrators to perform? Reward them

We've heard much talk about merit pay for teachers and rewards for students.

How about for school administrators?

A local Duval County nonprofit group called the Alliance for World Class Education has issued a report suggesting that Duval's district-level administrators and secretaries should be paid for their performance, too.

The idea that someone deserves a raise as an entitlement for having the job must go, Gloria Chandler, the study's chairwoman, told the Florida Times-Union. Folks need to earn their increases. And if someone gets demoted, the person's salary often should go down, too, the group said.

Chandler figured it would take "managerial courage" to put the recommendations into play. We'll be watching. Wonder if other Florida school district leaders will take note and consider the same "courage," too.

Want kids to perform? Reward them

That's the idea behind a bill that's on its way to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk.

California Democrats contend that one way to motivate students to do well on statewide tests is to pay them for high achievement or improvement, the Sacramento Bee reports. "It's a way to help kids do better in school," state Sen. Elaine Alquist, the bill's sponsor, said. "Isn't that what we all want?"

The idea has come up here in Florida. Jeb Bush's Foundation for Florida's Future, for instance, has suggested that more students might take AP tests if there were money offered to students who earn top marks. New York schools have dabbled in the concept, too.

The big question is whether paying kids for test results is a good idea. Critics have arisen in California to oppose the measure there. Still no word on whether Schwarzenegger plans to sign it into law.

Never mind

The Pasco school district has a new message for the Dayspring Academy charter school regarding teacher performance pay funding: Keep it.

"After a lengthy dialogue with the (Florida Department of Education), I have concluded that Dayspring Academy does not need to return any of the MAP funds it distributed to its employees in 2007," chief financial officer Olga Swinson wrote in a letter Thursday to the school's leadership. "Please accept my sincere apology for any confusion related to this misunderstanding."

Swinson had told the charter school's leaders late last week that the school would have to send back the $23,000 of state money it had given to five teachers through the Merit Award Program. That just wasn't the case, though.

No apology needed, said charter co-founder and state Rep. John Legg. "We're all adults. Mistakes happen."

Unfortunately, Legg added, district officials frequently make mistakes when it comes to charter school issues, and then they get peevish when the charter schools challenge them.

"When we approached them for clarification on the issue, they automatically took the position that they were correct," he said. "The only thing we ask is that, if we ask for clarification, people don't get upset that we ask."

See tomorrow's St. Petersburg Times or tampabay.com for the rest of the story.

Use it or lose it

Gov. Crist's proposal to make the unpopular MAP merit-pay plan more, uh, palatable to teachers will get serious consideration in the state House, Rep. Joe Pickens (left), chairman of the House Education Council, tells The Gradebook.

Last week, Crist unveiled a plan to re-distribute MAP money to participating districts, rather than have that money revert back to the state – an obvious attempt to get more teachers to "voluntarily" sign up (see Gradebook post here). Legislative leaders considered that idea last year, but ultimately decided against it, figuring more districts would take MAP for a spin, said Pickens, R-Palatka.

But they didn't. Only eight of Florida's 67 districts have approved MAP plans (see the list here), which means most of the $147.5 million allocated for the program will go unspent. And that has peeved many lawmakers, who thought they had brokered in good faith with teachers unions only to see them dismiss the performance pay plan out of hand.

"I think you see a little bit of frustration," explained Rep. John Legg (right), vice chairman of the House Education Committee, who also supports the reallocation idea. "When STAR was revised into MAP, there was kind of a verbal agreement that this was a good thing. ... I think they turned it into a political issue and said, 'We're not going to do it now.' They went back on their word."

Pickens said budget realities will temper what happens with MAP, but there is a desire to get more districts involved.

"Obviously, we're not going to spend $147 million that we really don't have over 10 districts," he said. "But I do think that in next year's budget we probably are going to fund the rewards at an amount that is greater than just those 10 districts' pro rate share."

- Ron Matus and Jeff Solochek

Crist flexes on teacher bonuses

So much for optional. And so much for Mr. Nice Guy. Last spring, Gov. Crist backed a performance-pay plan that teachers in every district could accept or reject - the Merit Award Program, better known as MAP. And given MAP's heavy reliance on standardized test scores, it was no surprise the overwhelming majority said no. Under that version of MAP, saying no carried no penalties, and the untouched bonus money went back to the state.

But now, Crist wants to make teachers an offer they can't refuse. Under a proposal outlined in the legislative priorities he issued yesterday, teachers can still say no to MAP, but if they do, their district's share of the bonus pie will be re-allocated to teachers in participating districts. In other words, if 10 districts sign up, their teachers get to split the dough that was supposed to go to all 67 districts. (And just to be clear, we're not talking chump change: Crist wants $120 million for MAP this year.)

Clearly, the teachers union is not happy: "I guess this is where he's going to draw a line in the sand," Florida Education Association spokesman Mark Pudlow told The Gradebook today. It's unclear whether lawmakers are lining up, but the Leg's Republican majority has been solidly supportive of merit pay. Said Pudlow: "It's pretty clear that the merit pay direction is the only one that some lawmakers and some political leaders are are going to use to increase salaries, even though we're below the national average."

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Jeb likes student performance pay, too

Say this for the former guv: He doesn't mind controversy. Jeb Bush supported performance pay for teachers while he was in office, and now that he's out of office, he's quietly giving a thumbs up to performance pay for students.

A press release sent out Friday afternoon by Bush's Foundation for Florida’s Future (sorry we didn't mention it sooner; if you can’t tell, it's pretty much all-evolution-all-the-time) congratulates Florida for again posting some of the highest AP participation and passage rates in the country (see Gradebook post here), and then offers a few suggestions on how Florida can do even better, including offering cash bonuses to students.

"Bonuses for student performance have been tested for more than a decade, and results show this type of incentive works," reads the statement from Patricia Levesque, the foundation's executive director. The statement mentions a Dallas program that was started in 1996 to boost AP participation and passage rates, and notes that some other big-city school districts are following suit. (Former Florida Education Commissioner John Winn, a Bush ally, is deeply involved with these efforts at his new gig. See Gradebook post here.)

The Foundation statement offered two other ideas: 1) Removing the $2,000 cap on bonuses for AP teachers (right now, they get $50 for each student who passes an AP test, up to $2,000), and 2) requiring all schools to offer at least four core AP courses (according to the foundation, only half of Florida’s high schools do so).

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

A Jeb program in line for cuts?

Maybe so. The state's budget picture is bad enough that the Legislature might have to look at cutting one of former Gov. Bush's pet programs, the "school recognition money" used to reward schools with high and/or improving FCAT scores, state Rep. Joe Pickens, chairman of the House Education Council, told The Gradebook.

The same goes for other high-profile programs, Pickens said, citing the MAP performance-pay plan; the bonus program for national board-certified teachers; and the teacher LEAD program, which gives teachers about $250 to purchase classroom supplies. "I don’t think anyone's considering the elimination of those," said Pickens, R-Palatka, but "those are certainly the types of things we’ll look at first."

Last year, more than 1,600 Florida schools got $129.3 million in school recognition money.

Pickens wouldn’t use the word "bad" to describe the revenue projections, but he said the likely cuts are "definitely going to be felt." At this point, lawmakers are looking at $2 billion less than last year, which probably means an ed budget that is leaner by several hundred million dollars. "This could be a year where even good legislation is put on hold because we can’t fund it," he said.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Merit pay, smarter kids, happier teachers?

Like they always say, maybe it's the water. Then again, maybe folks in Arkansas designed a teacher merit-pay plan that makes sense (as opposed to what many teachers in Florida think about MAP, son of STAR. See here.)

The latest stats in a multi-year study of Little Rock's Achievement Challenge Pilot Project – which offers teachers bonuses of as much as $11,000 (no, that's not a typo) and does not require them to compete against each other (no, that's not a typo, either) – found that students in the five participating elementary schools scored 9 percentile points higher in language, 6 percentile points higher in reading and nearly 7 percentile points higher in math last year than their peers in schools without merit pay.

On the flip side, a survey found some teachers weren’t as happy with the program this time around (though it's not really clear who's at fault.) To see the latest results, click here. To see the St. Petersburg Times profile on the program, click here. And to see just how happy some of the Little Rock teachers were last year, click here.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Merit pay dies in Hernando

BROOKSVILLE -- Hernando County caught a lucky break this week: the state didn't like its application for a merit-pay plan for teachers.

And with a few quick votes Wednesday, a relieved district and teachers' union dropped the Merit Award Program like a hot potato.

"Both groups voted unanimously not to submit the corrections to the Department of Education to revise the plan, so we’re not going to have that as part of our contract this year," said Barbara Kidder, director of labor relations and professional standards. "MAP is dead."

Under the state plan, up to 25 percent of district teachers would have received a state-funded salary bonus based on student testing and an administrative evaluation.

But Hernando officials reckoned the plan would have cost the district $400,000 or more in local funds to implement, and the Hernando Classroom Teachers' Association union worried that would come out of teacher salaries.

In other words, everyone -- including all five School Board members and the union leadership -- hated it. If not for the complication of an earlier union vote to accept the plan, and a much-regretted board vote to move forward, it never would have gotten this far.

They're not alone. Around two-thirds of Florida's 67 counties, including Pasco and Pinellas, have rejected the plan, according to the Florida School Labor Relations Service.

So when the district received word Monday that its plan had fallen short and needed revisions, there were lots of smiles.

Even Laurie Pellito, the district staffer who labored to pull the district's submission together, was pleased.

"I want to believe that it's finished," she added. "But I haven't started shredding yet."

Pellito plans to keep that big MAP file in a safe place, near her paperwork for Special Teachers Are Rewarded, the state's last attempt at merit pay. When the next plan comes, she'll be ready.

-- Tom Marshall, Times staff writer

MAP - the rules

Lawmakers approved it. Teachers and school districts negotiated plans for it. Then they even tried to convince the Legislature to postpone the Merit Award Program performance bonuses for teachers and principals.

Now along comes the State Board of Education. As the state prepares to approve or reject the few MAP plans it has, the board must implement rules to guide the decisions. And that's what it intends to do tomorrow. Want to see what it has in mind, after several public meetings and comments? Click here. Want to hear the debate? Visit the board's website tomorrow morning to find the webcast.

Performance pay primer

It might not be clear from the passionate rants and raves sometimes, but in our humble opinion, performance pay for teachers is a thorny issue, with compelling pros and cons advanced by thoughtful people from a lot of different perspectives and a lot of different points on the political spectrum. So, in the interest of putting as much useful information as we can in front of Gradebook readers, we though this recent Education Week story (registration required) was as good a summation of the trends and tensions behind performance pay as we've seen.

Just to quote a couple graphs: "The surge of interest in such experimentation is bolstered by research findings that some teachers are far more effective than others in raising student achievement. Compensation changes that reward talented teachers so that they stay in the profession, and encourage ineffective ones to improve or leave, potentially could have a large impact on student learning."

"But despite a growing consensus that compensation systems for teachers need to be altered, said Brad Jupp, a senior academic policy adviser to the superintendent of the Denver public schools and one of the creators of the district's performance-based pay plan, "there's no clear consensus about what the best way to pay people, other than the single-salary schedule, is. We're in that period of time after the old paradigm has gone and before the new paradigm has fully evolved." 

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Unions dumping ‘old ways’?

Local teachers unions are growing more accepting of initiatives that link pay to performance and reduce the influence of teacher seniority in transfer and staffing decisions, according to a report out today from the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights. Among other examples, the report cites union-backed performance-pay plans in Denver and Minneapolis.

It also gives a nod to a provision in Pinellas County that "gives principals more flexibility in picking their staff and creating a school culture conducive to improvement." Such moves will ultimately help disadvantaged kids, says the report, which was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "In many of these places, organization by community leaders, educators and parents served as the catalyst for change," it says. "In the end, however, change was made possible by the willingness of union leaders to abandon old ways and advocate reform." Read more here.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Down goes MAP, down goes MAP

Drumroll please ... And the final tally for district acceptance or rejection of the MAP performance-pay plan is ... 21 yes, 46 no.

Well, that's not exactly final, but it's close, with the numbers coming to The Gradebook compliments of Max Schmidt, executive director of the Florida School Labor Relations Service, which surveyed every district. (Click here to see the tally by district.) Yesterday was the deadline for districts to submit MAP plans to the Department of Education, but since DOE officials could not provide The Gradebook with totals Tuesday we turned to other sources.

Schmidt noted some districts still have not come to an agreement on MAP with their local unions, so by the time the dust clears there might be even more districts in the nay column. Meanwhile, the Florida Education Association scores it 13 for MAP, 48 against, six undecided. Either way, a knockout for teachers, no?

So what happened? Last spring, in response to a tsunami of teacher fury, lawmakers asked teachers, principals, superintendents and other education stakeholders to give their input on a new performance pay plan to replace the last one, STAR. The result: Lawmakers earned kudos from the teachers union and others for setting a more inclusive tone; the fury spawned by STAR vanished; and MAP was born. But, if lawmakers got input from teachers, why is MAP now so full of arrows? And if teachers hate MAP so much, where was the outrage during the session?

A weekend interview with ...

... Lynne Webb, president of the United School Employees of Pasco. The union recently rejected participation in the state's teacher performance pay plan, becoming the 30th district to do so. Webb spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about performance pay, and why teachers seem so opposed to it.

Why do you think teachers are so opposed to performance pay?

Well, I don't think that teachers are opposed to performance pay, and would not want anyone to misconstrue or interpret this vote as a vote against performance pay. I believe this vote was against the MAP (Merit Award Program) iteration of performance pay.

So what is wrong with MAP?

Well, I think that there were a number of things that teachers had concerns about. First of all, I think part of it has to with timing. It came of the heels of a failed E-Comp plan that the DOE tried to foist upon teachers, which then got turned into STAR, which then got modified again into MAP. So I think it's really hard for teachers to separate MAP from these other plans which had been ill thought out. And MAP truly is very very similar to the components of STAR. It had some modifications and some slight improvements. But it  still had very unrealistic time lines. Teachers were being asked to vote on something that would take effect, in a sense, before they had ever even voted on it. Because it applied to this whole school year. And it involved certain types of exams that teachers haven't had any exposure to, the validity of which haven't been tested, and we don't even have those exams in Pasco County yet. So I think there was a concern about rushing headlong into something teachers didn't feel comfortable with. ...

What about the teachers who we heard in public comments saying, 'Don't pit me against my colleagues. Pay me what I'm worth instead.'?

I think that also is an issue for teachers. I do believe that's a broader issue than just with MAP. I think the timing of MAP when we're in a revenue shortfall just exacerbated those concerns. ... We haven't been able to negotiate the pay raise yet because nobody knows what the financial situation is going to be like. So I think teachers may be afraid that the Legislature is going to latch onto this to give some raises, but not provide raises for all teachers.

Pasco board rejects MAP, too

One day after Pasco's teachers voted down their proposed performance pay plan, their School Board unanimously joined them.

Board members said they like the idea of rewarding teachers for excellence, but deemed the state's Merit Award Program a poor way to accomplish that goal.

"I do believe in merit pay. But that pay has to encourage collaboration and lift our teachers up in a way different than this," vice chairwoman Kathryn Starkey said. "I don't think that this plan is it. I didn't have one teacher come up to me and say, 'This is a good plan, please vote  for it.' I had the opposite."

The board did ask the administration and teachers to consider returning to the bargaining table, to try to find a way to claim the state's bonus money - about $3.6-million was allocated for the county this year - in coming years.

"It's coming," board member Allen Altman said of teacher performance pay. "There needs to be a set plan to work together in good faith ... so our employees can get those dollars."

To see yesterday's post on the teachers' vote, click here.

Pasco teachers reject performance pay

Once again, Pasco's classroom teachers have turned down the opportunity to claim bonuses of about $2,100 from the state. The United School Employees of Pasco has joined a growing number of colleagues across Florida in refusing to participate in the Merit Award Plan, which would give extra pay to 25 percent of teachers based on their students' performance and their job evaluations. (To see the plan, see this past post.)

Two-thirds of the union's nearly 5,000 teachers cast ballots on the proposed agreement. Of those, 76 percent rejected the deal. Pasco teachers voted down participation in the Special Teachers Are Rewarded plan that preceded MAP, too.

"What's remarkable is that during a time when the district is facing funding cutbacks and teacher raises are on hold, the teachers put their principles ahead of their pocketbooks and said, 'We can't be bought,'" USEP president Lynne Webb said in a news release. She added that the vote affirms teachers' opinion that performance pay is no substitute for adequate pay. (To read the full release, click here.)

The Pasco School Board is scheduled to vote on the performance pay agreement tomorrow. It could impose the deal on the teachers if it wants to claim the $3.5-million the state has set aside for the bonuses. Board vice chairwoman Kathryn Starkey, who led the charge to reject the STAR plan, told the Gradebook that she hasn't decided what to do this time.

"In my opinion, Sen. Gaetz and the Legislature made great improvements with the MAP plan," Starkey said, noting teachers can be evaluated in teams, and administrators are included. "I have to look into this."

Merit-pay rumble in D.C.

Maybe it's no surprise that a couple of education heavyweights went at it over teacher performance pay this week, but it probably is a surprise, especially here in Florida, that Democratic U.S. Rep. George Miller (left) is in the corner that favors it. Miller chairs the House education committee; is one of the architects of No Child Left Behind; and is lefty enough to be called a "liberal Democratic lion" by the San Francisco Chronicle. You'd think, given Florida teacher frustration with STAR, MAP and merit-pay in general, that somebody like Miller would be on their side, no?

But no. According to a Sept. 12 Associated Press account, Miller criticized Reg Weaver (right), the president of the National Education Association, for rejecting a merit-pay proposal that's included in the draft of an updated No Child. The proposal says outstanding teachers should be able to get bonuses worth up to $10,000, based in part on student test scores. To see the AP story, click here. To see the New York Times  story that also references the exchange, click here . And to read up on Miller's recent visit to Tampa with U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, click here.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Pasco reaches tentative MAP plan

While Hillsborough teachers are collecting their performance pay bonuses (see post), Pasco teachers will be getting their first look at what a Merit Award Plan system could look like for them.

The United School Employees of Pasco and the district administration reached a tentative MAP agreement late Thursday, which would direct $3-million to about 25 percent of Pasco teachers at the end of next year. (To see the plan, click here.) The School Board and the teachers still must approve the plan before a state-imposed Oct. 1 deadline.

"Really, the most important thing there is that this plan gives the teachers the choice whether they want to be assessed under the MAP plan as individuals or as members of an instructional team," USEP lead negotiator Jim Ciadella tells the Gradebook.

Without that provision, which was not part of the performance pay plan that teachers and the School Board rejected in the spring, the deal likely wouldn't have gotten off the table, Ciadella said.

Who got merit pay in Hillsborough?

So who got the money? Click here to download the complete list of the more than 4,600 educators in Hillsborough who received about $2,100 in their paychecks today through the state's Merit Award Program.

We understand that some teachers would prefer that we not post their names. However, we at the Gradebook decided there was a compelling public interest in giving parents and educators the opportunity to learn which teachers received performance pay, as they are supposed to be the ones who got the best results from their students.

Performance pay certainly is contentious. Click here to see past Gradebook discussions on the matter. But it also appears here to stay, as Congress is looking into including the idea in No Child Left Behind, and state lawmakers have no willingness to compromise the program even with budget cuts looming. We're simply reporting on who is getting the money.

Currently, we have only the names. As soon as we receive it, we will post an updated list that also shows school sites.

Don't be looking for a similar list in Pinellas or Pasco, though. Pinellas teachers decided not to participate in MAP, while Pasco teachers have not voted on a plan yet.

Getting closer all the time

Pasco teachers, who overwhelmingly rejected performance pay in the spring, could get a second chance to take a stand as early as next week. And this time, one of the key stumbling blocks to approval appears to have disappeared.

The United School Employees of Pasco has gained what lead negotiator Jim Ciadella called "significant change" over whether teachers should be evaluated individually or as teams during talks with the administration last week. Teachers wanted some flexibility here, as the district's philosophy focuses on educators working together with students who move between their classrooms.

Terry Rhum, the district's lead negotiator, told the Gradebook he believed the sides could reach a final agreement as early as the end of this week (though talks have not been scheduled). The School Board and teachers union would get to vote afterward. If the district is to participate in the state's Merit Award Program, it must submit a plan by Oct. 1.

For more Gradebook coverage of performance pay, click here.

Protect performance pay

Teachers, finance officers, superintendents and school boards across Florida have urged lawmakers to postpone implementing the new Merit Award Program, which would give bonuses to teachers based on student performance. They say delaying the $150-million program makes sense, given the state's $1.5-billion budget crunch.

The State Board of Education disagrees.

"We would like to have that be off the table as far as budget cuts," said board member Kathleen Shanahan (left), who won her colleagues' support to send that message to the Governor's Office and the Legislature.

She offered an alternative way to boost revenue for schools instead - more Lotto games. "The lottery is a significant opportunity," Shanahan said. "If there is anything to be done as far as a new game, ratchet it up. It is for K-12... It is something I would definitely put it on the governor's agenda."

"We'll make sure that is communicated," Commissioner Blomberg told the board.