CMS watching the clock, making its list

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials are hustling to name the 25 percent of teachers who qualify for small state raises by the June deadline,  but they say they expect  --  even hope for  --  last-minute changes.

This summer,  the state legislature ordered school districts across North Carolina to select 25 percent of the teachers who meet experience and proficiency standards and offer them four-year contracts and $500-a-year raises.  It's part of a plan to phase out teacher tenure,  or career status,  by 2018.  (Read the CMS presentation here.)

CMS recently polled teachers on options for making the selection and plans to analyze the results before winter break.  In January,  Superintendent Heath Morrison will bring the school board his plan for making the cut,  and in May he'll bring them the list of names as required by law.

Meanwhile,  CMS lawyer Jonathan Sink said he's been talking with legislators about some of the unintended consequences of the mandate,  and they may be willing to tinker and clarify in 2014. But the session doesn't start until May,  which means any state changes would come as local districts are wrapping up their process.

For teachers there's another time pressure:  If they're offered the four-year contract,  they have to decide whether to sign away their rights to career status.  The law passed this summer says that protection will go away for everyone in 2018,  when those four-year contracts expire.  State lawmakers have appointed a task force to look at performance pay and other compensation and recruitment issues. But for now,  nobody knows what will replace the current system.

Waddell

"I've seen many programs come and go.  This is going to come and go just like the others,"  said board member Joyce Waddell,  a retired teacher.

Several teachers have said it would be foolish to sign away career status protection for an uncertain future.  The N.C. Association of Educators is reportedly planning a lawsuit to challenge the elimination of tenure.

Morrison acknowledged the likelihood that a significant number of teachers who get the contract offers will say no.  He said the district's interpretation of the state mandate is that once the teachers who make up the 25 percent are chosen,  the list can't be expanded.  That means the actual number getting contracts and raises could end up well below 25 percent,  he told the board.

CMS has more than 10,000 employees who qualify as teachers under the state definition  (which includes licensed support staff such as counselors and librarians),  and almost 6,000 who meet the state eligibility standard of proficient job ratings and three consecutive years of employment.  According to this week's presentation,  that means CMS will be able to offer contracts to about 1,500 people.

N.C. tenure change: Questions remain

Next summer one in four N.C. public-school teachers will be asked to sign away their traditional tenure in exchange for a four-year contract that includes a $500-a-year raise.

But state education officials are still trying to figure out how the transition will work.  Among the questions:  How will superintendents identify the top 25 percent in their districts?

"It gets a bit confusing,  even if you're deep into this stuff,"  said N.C. Department of Public Instruction spokeswoman Vanessa Jeter.  She put me in touch with Tom Tomberlin,  a former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools administrator who's now the state's human resources liaison with school districts.

Tomberlin

Here's what Tomberlin knows so far:  Based on evaluations for the coming school year,  superintendents and boards of education will be required to designate their top 25 percent in 2014.  Those teachers will be offered a four-year contract and the $500 annual raise in exchange for giving up career status,  the current job protection.

Can they refuse?  Tomberlin says probably so,  since the legislation says it's a voluntary change.  But there wouldn't be much point,  he said,  since everyone's career status goes away in 2018,  when the four-year contract would end.

To be eligible for the top 25 percent,  a teacher must have been employed by the district for three consecutive years.  A quirk in the language of the budget bill  (the section on teacher contracts starts on page 97)  makes it unclear whether legislators expect value-added ratings based on student test scores to be used for determining the top 25 percent,  Tomberlin said.  The superintendent is responsible for identifying the top teachers,  but the school board can modify that list,  as long as teachers offered a four-year contract and raise have  "shown effectiveness as demonstrated by proficiency on the teacher evaluation instrument."

I wondered what happens in coming years:  Will additional teachers be eligible for the four-year contracts and bonuses based on evaluations in 2015 and beyond?  Tomberlin said that's not clear.  The state Board of Education and DPI will be working on details of this plan,  with guidance from legislators.

Meanwhile,  teachers who don't already have career status will be hired on one-year contracts.  In 2018,  all career status ends.  Teachers will be offered one-,  two- or four-year contracts.  Only those with at least three years'  experience and proficient job ratings will be eligible for more than one year.

Jonathan Sink,  the CMS legislative liaison,  adds that if the district doesn't want to renew a teacher's contract,  the teacher may petition the school board for a hearing "but the local board does not have to hear the matter."

"The decision to fire a teacher during the term of his or her contract must be for one of 15 'just cause'  reasons, which are identical to the 15 just cause bases that public school employees have always known,"  Sink adds.  Read Sink's recap of all education-related legislation here.

Update:  Gov. Pat McCrory's proposal to reward 1,000 top teachers with $10,000 stipends gives a new twist to the performance-pay discussion.  The state has more than 97,000 teachers,  so you're talking roughly 1 percent.  One CMS teacher on Facebook has already dubbed the plan "Hunger Games: NC Teacher Edition."