Cincinnati public school teacher Kimya Moyo is taking time to work with principals in her district, helping them gain a clear understanding of the district's new evaluation system. Last year, teachers voted to approve an evaluation plan negotiated by the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers and the district, which was designed to tie the skills and knowledge demonstrated by teachers directly to their compensation.

The spirit of what's happening in Cincinnati and other districts around the nation was a driving force behind a landmark resolution, adopted by the AFT executive council at its Feb. 5-7 meeting, which calls for enhancing the traditional teacher compensation schedule. Submitted by the AFT's PreK-12 program and policy council, the resolution says the AFT "believes it is time to explore viable, fair and educationally sound teacher compensation options that will raise salaries while contributing to efforts already under way to assure high-quality, well-prepared teachers for all students."

With more states and school districts proposing differential pay strategies as a way to recruit and retain qualified teachers, the AFT and its task force on professional compensation have moved to a proactive rather than a reactive approach to teacher compensation. The resolution adopted by the council makes it clear that professional compensation should be achieved "not by eliminating the traditional salary schedule, but instead by considering ways to enhance and improve it." It also urges that districts "provide adequate competitive base salaries, including entry-level pay."

A professional teacher compensation system could include financial incentives in several areas that are identified in the resolution. They are:

• knowledge and skills that advance and/or address high-priority educational goals;
• schoolwide improvement;
• National Board certification;
• mentoring new and veteran teachers; providing peer assistance and review, serving as lead teachers and similar duties;
• agreeing to teach in hard-to-staff areas and/or low-performing schools;
• agreeing to assume additional responsibilities; and
• instructional practice that meets mutually agreed-upon high-quality professional standards.

An adequate salary base for all teachers, labor-management collaboration based on mutual trust, and easy-to-understand procedures for awarding teachers additional compensation are among the conditions that must be met.

The resolution also emphasizes that, while the AFT "is encouraging locals to explore various teacher compensation systems based on local conditions, it is not abandoning the traditional salary schedule." The base salary for teachers "must be competitive with the salaries of other professionals."

Seize the moment

In Cincinnati, Moyo is working to ensure that evaluations underpinning the new compensation system are based on clear, fair standards derived largely from the work of such groups as the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

"If people don't understand it fully, we don't have a fair and reliable system," explains Moyo, who has taught high school math since 1969 and is an NBPTS-certified teacher. She also has developed a course of study to help teachers prepare for the evaluation—making them familiar with the rubrics and standards, helping them develop the portfolio tied to evaluation, providing examples of good teaching and tying them to the standards.

The Cincinnati initiative is a work in progress, and both the union and district are analyzing the evaluation process and standards to refine the system later this year, explains Cincinnati Federation of Teachers president Richard Beck. What is already clear, he emphasizes, is that "teachers are willing to tie compensation to evaluation if the process is fair, reliable and understood by all."

Done right, the combination of the new evaluation system with pay incentives offers a new, exciting way to genuinely reward accomplished practitioners, attract new professionals into teaching and would allow beginning teachers who demonstrate strong teaching practice to advance more quickly. It also will encourage educators to reflect on and improve their practice, Moyo says. "It will help the profession move to the next level."

Cincinnati is not alone. The AFT's Douglas County, Colo., affiliate has revamped its pay structure to combine competitive base pay with a series of voluntary bonus incentives. Teachers may, for example, earn bonuses by demonstrating mastery of specific skills acquired in district training courses or by taking on additional responsibilities such as serving on school or district committees. Teachers also may earn bonuses by demonstrated outstanding performance in assessment and instruction, content knowledge and pedagogy, and collaboration and partnership as measured by criteria developed by NBPTS.

Just rewards

One of the most promising salary incentives supported by the resolution involves certification through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (see sidebar page 3). Many states and districts now offer a range of incentives for NBPTS candidates and Board-certified teachers. They include help with fees, salary supplements, and training and mentoring.

In Minneapolis, teachers with National Board certification qualify for the next lane on the salary schedule. Those already in the final lane of the salary schedule receive an additional $1,500 per year. Similar incentives are also in place in locals from Boston to Los Angeles. In Chicago, teachers seeking certification through the Nurturing Teacher Leadership Program, a candidate support program offered by the Chicago Teachers Union's QuEST center, can receive 12 graduate credits that can help them advance to the next lane of the salary schedule. Successful Board candidates also are eligible to receive state and local incentives of $1,000 or more by mentoring new candidates.

"If you worked at IBM and were expected to train your colleagues, you would be compensated for it," observes Lynn Cherkasky-Davis, director of the Nurturing Teacher Leadership Program and a former NBPTS director. "We are professionals, and we should command a professional wage."

The complete resolution is posted in the PreK-12 area of AFT online at www.aft.org/edissues/teacherquality/ResandPos.htm.

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