McCrory pay plan: What do you think?

Gov. Pat McCrory unveiled a plan to revamp North Carolina's teacher pay scale to predictably mixed reviews Wednesday.  Click here to see the material that was handed out at the announcement at N.C. A&T and here for McCrory's press release.

McCrory with budget director Art Pope (left) and education adviser Eric Guckian

I'm eager to hear what you all think of it.  Here's a sampling of early reactions from around the state.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Superintendent Heath Morrison,  the first speaker after McCrory to tout the plan,  emailed CMS employees Wednesday afternoon voicing support: "I am encouraged about many components of this framework. It allows for more local control in the development of a teacher compensation model and seeks to restore salary supplements for teachers who earn advanced degrees in the subjects they teach.  It also builds on the work we have started at CMS to create a comprehensive teacher compensation model and provide additional professional growth and pay opportunities for our valued teachers. ... It is clear that there are a lot of details about the governor’s proposal that need to be developed.  This proposal is a solid step toward our goal of compensating teachers better but more work will be required."

Jewell

The N.C. Association of Educators offered mixed reviews in a statement from VP Mark Jewell:  "NCAE is glad the Governor has come to share our view that all teachers, not just the newest ones, deserve a pay raise.  But a raise in the range of 2-3 percent as proposed is inadequate, given that teachers’ pay has been frozen for five of the last six years. ... Rather than pit state agencies against each other over an already-reduced budget, NCAE suggests that a better approach would be to delay this year's scheduled $300 million tax cut for the very wealthy and profitable corporations. This would provide at least a 5% raise for teachers. ... With respect to the longer-term plan to revise the teacher salary schedule, for years the NCAE has put forward proposals for pay schedule reform, and the governor’s plan reflects several ideas our staff shared with his staff several months ago.  We look forward to working in support of a fair and workable salary schedule for the future."

Harrison

BEST NC, the coalition of business leaders recently created to advocate for public education,  offered support while acknowledging that important cost questions remain to be answered.  “We finally have a professional compensation plan that allows our most effective teachers to take on leadership roles in their schools and impact more students, without leaving the classroom,”  said Venessa Harrison, president of AT&T North Carolina and BEST NC Board member,  who spoke at the announcement.  Read the full statement here.

State Superintendent June Atkinson,  a Democrat,  voiced support at the announcement.  But the state Democratic party sent out critical statements from the House and Senate Democratic caucuses.

B;ie

From Sen. Dan Blue,  D-Wake:  "The Governor clearly recognizes the need to undo some of the damage that his administration did to education last year. Unfortunately, Governor McCrory and Thom Tillis put teachers in tough spot by cutting an additional half billion dollars from education last year in order to give massive handouts to the wealthy and special interests. It’s time to see action – and not just to relieve some of the hardships teachers have borne thanks to the governor – but a real plan to raise teacher pay to the national average and ensure our students have the best schools in the country.”

Hall

And from Rep. Larry Hall, D-Durham:  "Governor McCrory's plan may make for good political talking points, but it simply does not do enough to begin addressing the teacher pay crisis in North Carolina. ... (The plan) does not provide a dedicated plan to raise teacher pay to the national average.  All Governor McCrory provided today is an unfunded plan that continues to sell North Carolina educators and students short. ... Our students and teachers deserve more than election year rhetoric and short-term band-aids."

Kowal

CarolinaCAN,  which had worked with the McCrory team and posted a plan that included many of the same elements as his proposal,  offered support:  "This is the first time we've seen a comprehensive proposal that addresses both low base salaries and the state's outdated salary schedule,"  said Executive Director Julie Kowal.  Read the statement and get a link to the group's proposal here.

Ebert

N.C. Chamber President Lew Ebert called McCrory's plan a step in the right direction:  "For many years, the NC Chamber has worked to advance education priorities to position North Carolina as the leading state in talent development. As such, we have previously supported Governor McCrory’s push to raise teacher pay to the national average. ... Legislative leaders have also developed innovative ways to compensate our best teachers and we support this approach to make teaching an attractive career path for young people in North Carolina. We commend them for their efforts and hope this sort of innovative education reform will continue."

And Progress NC's Gerrick Brenner panned the plan as an election-year gimmick lacking details on how to pay for raises:  "Because of radical tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, the state already faces a $445M shortfall.  McCrory's new teacher pay plan could add another $100M in expenses, on top of his $200M plan for better pay for new teachers, and $45M for better pay for state employees.  McCrory's shortfall could add up to an eye-popping $790M. In his short tenure as Governor, McCrory already has a track record of offering up promises which don't pan out.

Governor McCrory's 2013 budget proposal included a 1% raise for teachers, but that never happened."

Board certified teachers fare well in NC

North Carolina looks bad on most national comparisons of how it pays teachers.  But when it comes to rewarding those who earn certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards,  the state does better than most.

Certification,  which requires teachers to meet demanding national standards and analyze their own teaching techniques, brings a 12 percent bump to teacher salaries here.  Exactly where that ranks is hard to say because there are so many different approaches.

Twenty states provide some kind of salary incentive,  and most of those offer a flat amount rather than a percentage,  says the board's communication director Aparna Kumar.  For instance,  a recent state report comparing North Carolina to surrounding states showed that South Carolina offers $5,000 a year,  while Virginia offers $5,000 the first year and $2,500 in subsequent years.  Georgia has approved rewarding board certification but has yet to provide the money,  the report from the N.C. General Assembly's Fiscal Research Division says.  Tennessee provides no statewide reward but encourages local districts to do so.

In North Carolina, the amount of the certification bump depends on the teacher's base salary.  For one making the state minimum of $30,800,  12 percent comes to just under $3,700.  For a teacher at the top of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools scale,  it's a bit over $8,300 a year.

"As a rough comparison, North Carolina is among the states with a strong incentive in the approximately $4,000 to $6,000 range,"  Kumar said.

North Carolina was one of the first states to embrace the certification process as a way to develop strong teachers. North Carolina has more board certified teachers than any other state,  and Wake County tops all other districts nationwide.

"North Carolina is well poised to build from its history of strong support to help make Board certification the norm for teachers as it is in other high-regard professions such as medicine,"  said board President Ronald Thorpe.

N.C. leaders are scrutinizing every aspect of teacher compensation in hopes of getting the best bang for the taxpayer buck.  They're phasing out extra pay for master's degrees,  arguing that the 10 percent increase doesn't correspond to stronger results for kids.  So far they seem willing to keep the certification pay intact,  though I never venture a firm prediction on what the future might hold.

Let's talk about teacher pay

Education looks like the hot topic for this year's legislative session,  with a special urgency about teacher pay and treatment.  The Observer and PNC Bank are hosting a  "Solving It Together"  forum on May 5,  the week before the session starts,  to talk about teacher compensation.

Cameron

Panelists are Eric Guckian,  the governor's senior education adviser;  CMS Superintendent Heath Morrison;  state representatives Rob Bryan (GOP) and Tricia Cotham (Dem); and Erlene Lyde of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators.  WBTV anchor Paul Cameron will pose questions suggested by the audience and press for answers that go beyond sound bites.

Meanwhile,  I'm working on a package that will try to move the discussion past wheel-spinning and broad generalities to get some discussion going about real options,  what they might cost and where we can find the money.

The forum is from 7-9 p.m. at CPCC's Pease Auditorium.  Click here to register and suggest questions.  I'll be there covering the discussion,  so I hope to see some of you there.

In a separate event,  the N.C. Association of Educators and the Tar Heel Alliance of Classroom Teachers are sponsoring a showing of the documentary  "American Teacher"  at 7 p.m. Thursday,  April 24,  at the CMAE office at 301 S McDowell St., Suite 1200.  The film,  narrated by Matt Damon and sponsored by the Teacher Salary Project,  is part of a national effort to increase teacher pay and respect  (read the list of supporters here).

In North Carolina,  the showing is part of a  "Moral Movies"  series that will run in Charlotte and other cities over the next four months.  The state NAACP and the Wilmington-based Working Films are co-sponsoring the series.

Teacher pay gets hot-potato toss

I didn't make it to Raleigh for the final meeting of the General Assembly's teacher compensation task force,  but the report is online and it's pretty much as predicted:  This panel is tossing the topic back to legislators and asking them to tap the state Board of Education for another round of study.

The recommendations are broad and fairly obvious:  Focus on a pay system that benefits students,  raise pay for newer teachers as a short-term goal  (a tactic already proposed by Gov. Pat McCrory and GOP leaders) and make across-the-board hikes and  "modernization"  a long-term goal.  Just how long isn't clear,  but a draft proposal suggests giving the state board another year to study teacher compensation,  with a goal of putting something in place in 2016-17.

The report indicates that the task force was intrigued by career-ladder approaches such as that being piloted with Charlotte-Mecklenburg's  "opportunity culture"  program,  and by the IMPACT teacher evaluation model in use in District of Columbia Public Schools.

"There are no examples of state-centered comprehensive compensation models that have positively impacted student achievement and have been sustained,"  the report notes.  "Reform models that emphasizes (sic) local flexibility within evidence-based parameters may be a more promising and sustainable strategy."

The lack of specifics on how to raise salaries and modernize the pay plan drew fire from some of the educators and legislators who served,  the AP's Gary Robertson reports.  "We've heard a lot of presentations and propaganda but there really hasn't been a whole lot of meaningful discussion going forward,"  said Timothy Barnsback, president of the Professional Educators of North Carolina.

Kidd

Judy Kidd, president of the Classroom Teachers Association,  said the task force was  "playing kick the can."

Cotham

"The report could have been written in January, frankly," said Kidd, a CMS high school teacher. She said it may have been naive to think a real plan could be drafted after four meetings, but she said lack of information isn't the real challenge.  "They know what they need to do. They know they need to do it."

State Rep. Tricia Cotham, D-Mecklenburg,  posted a critical synopsis on her Facebook page:  "I called the committee report 'fluff' and argued that many teachers are hurting NOW. Teachers across NC are trying to make ends meet as we speak. I challenged my colleagues to 'put their money where their mouth is' and send the message that we as a state value our teachers, our children, and education."

118 pages of CMS reading

After a crazy stretch last week,  I just got a chance to track down the full reports from 22 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools task forces.

Well,  make that full reports from 21.  After a brief and confusing presentation from the compensation task force at last week's event at West Charlotte High,  I was told the report from months of work on a "strategic compensation" plan for teachers would be released as part of this report.  In fact,  there's a one-page timeline from that group that concludes in July 2013:  "Sent a memo from Dr. Heath Morrison to Compensation Task Force thanking them for their efforts."  So I guess we'll have to wait for a report from another compensation task force that started meeting in June. I've been assured those meetings will be public,  but I haven't yet found a schedule.

But the reports from the 21 other task forces are detailed,  with references,  costs and timetables.  I'm going to wade through them as I have time,  but I'm also hoping for a little crowd-sourcing.  If you've got an interest in one or more of the areas,  check out the reports and let me know what's interesting and what raises further questions.  It's 118 pages of reading,  so it's going to take awhile.  If you're a speed reader,  you can move on to 212 pages of supplemental reading from the  "closing the achievement gap"  group.

CMS pay studies: Season Four begins

Most of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' task forces have wrapped up their work, with reports due later this month.  But one is just gearing up. Welcome to Season Four of  "CMS employees study better ways to get paid."

Season One: Performance Pay debuted under Superintendent Peter Gorman,  with teachers invited to contribute to a long-term plan to shift all employees to a pay system based on performance.  It began with studies showing the current teacher pay scale,  based on longevity and credentials,  has little to do with rewarding effectiveness.  It quickly exploded into controversy over testing,  value-added ratings and a legislative push that many teachers saw as an attempt by Gorman to go behind their backs. The dramatic season finale featured Gorman's 2011 resignation,  as he moved on to a job in private industry.

Season Two: Talent Effectiveness brought the mild-mannered interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh assuring employees that the lack of money for rewards was actually a good thing,  creating a pressure-free environment for a new group of teachers to study effective teaching. Susan Varga, a middle-school math teacher, signed on to a year-long advisory post,  while many remained skeptical. That season ended as expected,  with Hattabaugh returning to Florida and a new superintendent taking over.

By the time Heath Morrison introduced Season Three: Strategic Compensation,  the ongoing saga was getting national viewers. Another group of educators signed up to help craft a plan for revising pay in a way that would be meaningful and -- unlike the many pilot programs CMS has tried -- sustainable.  They aimed toward a March 1 deadline for sending their plan to state officials.  With less than a week to go,  some of those teachers told the school board how delighted they were that Morrison was really listening to them.  But  there was a plot twist:  CMS had decided not to submit a state plan after all.

When I talked to Morrison recently about his first year,  he said that because there was no state money to support a new strategy, “I didn’t feel a need to rush this.”  His top staff and the educators who helped create the plan are continuing to review it,  he said,  but so far neither employees nor the public have seen results.  He said the latest compensation task force,  which begins its work this summer,  will incorporate that work,  and all members of the past panel are invited to stay on board.

I talked to a couple of teachers who served on last year's task force,  and they voiced a mix of confusion and  optimism.  "He may not be going as fast as some people would like," said task force member Michael Pillsbury, a math teacher at Randolph Middle, "but I think he's on the right track."

I'm not sure what's left to study.  As Morrison is quick to note,  the lack of state money for even a bare-bones raise puts a damper on brainstorming better ways to reward employees.

At the very least,  we can surely anticipate a new name for the project.  And we can count on a new cast:  Morrison recently named his second new human resources director in seven months,  and Chief Operating Officer Millard House,  who spearheaded last year's strategic compensation study,  just announced he's leaving CMS.