Master's degree pay: Nasty surprise ahead?

We know the N.C. legislature has eliminated extra pay for teachers who earn advanced degrees after 2014.  But like so many things coming out of this summer's rapid-fire session,  details are still being sorted out.

It's not even clear what the deadline is for completing a master's degree to qualify for the 10 percent pay hike that's now part of state's teacher pay scale.  The state budget bill says teachers are grandfathered into the old pay scale if they earned the salary supplement  "prior to the 2014-15 school year."  Currently,  the deadline for earning master's pay in 2013-14 is April 1,  2014.

But Tom Tomberlin,  a human-resources official with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction,  said today that his department will ask the state Board of Education to consider pushing that back "to accommodate those teachers finishing their masters in the spring of 2014."

The bigger question,  Tomberlin says,  is what happens after 2014,  when everyone converts to one pay scale.  Teachers who are grandfathered into the current master's scale have been assured their pay won't be cut,  he said,  but it's possible they'd be frozen in coming years until their pay comes in line with the new scale. For instance,  a teacher with 10 years' experience and a master's degree made $40,820 on the 2012-13 state scale  (many local districts supplement state pay),  compared with $37,110 for a teacher with only a bachelor's.  The bachelor's scale doesn't hit that level until Year 17.

 "We don't know the answer to that,"  Tomberlin said.  "It's a point we've got to get clarity on from the legislators."

Meanwhile,  teachers in grad school and the universities that serve them are scrambling to figure out how to meet the new deadline  (whatever it turns out to be).  One teacher who had been enrolled in UNC Charlotte's graduate program forwarded an email sent Friday by Dean Ellen McIntyre.  The College of Education is  "strategizing to find ways to help as many of you as possible complete your programs with integrity by December 2013," the email says, adding that more information will arrive in the coming week.

Teachers are resorting to dark humor to cope with what Annie McCanless,  a veteran teacher at Providence High,  dubs "the summer of misery for education in North Carolina."  Shortly after the budget passed last week,  she sent me her Ten Reasons Why Teachers Don't Need an Advanced Degree in North Carolina.  Among them:  "If teachers get an advanced degree they will leave NC so they can work in a state that rewards the educational achievement,"  "Paying all teachers the same salary simplifies the salary charts"  and  "Teachers don’t need the knowledge and skills learned in an advanced degree. All they needed to know they learned in kindergarten."

There's one bright spot for teachers:  Legislators didn't touch the 12 percent supplement for those who have earned National Board Certification.  "I think  'for now'  is the operative word,"  cautioned Tomberlin.

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."