Just one Columbia Board of Education candidate said he supports merit pay last night at a forum sponsored by a teacher organization that opposes the idea of linking teacher pay to student achievement.
Dan Holt, one of three candidates for two open three-year seats on the board, said he would support a merit-pay system that teachers at individual school buildings design for their school. The system would incorporate more than current tests given to students, Holt said, but he did not elaborate. In his plan, the district would implement merit pay building by building, a change from how the district pays teachers now: one salary schedule that lets teachers earn more money for furthering their education and for years worked.
The teacher salary schedule does not take into account how effectively or how well the teacher performs.
“I think it needs to be introduced,” said Holt, whose wife, Lisa, is the chairwoman of the math department at Rock Bridge High School.
Holt was speaking at a school board candidate forum last night at the District Administration Building sponsored by the Columbia Missouri National Education Association, one of two teacher organizations recognized by the school board. CMNEA opposes merit pay.
Five candidates have decided to vie for three open seats on the school board. Holt and board members Jan Mees and Jim Whitt are competing for the two three-year seats available. Jonathan Sessions and Phil Peters are running for a one-year seat available because of board member Rosie Tippin’s resignation in May.
Mees opposes merit pay, saying the model judges the student more than the teacher. “Whose performance are you evaluating, really?” said Mees, who was a media specialist in the district for 21 years and receives campaign support from several Columbia Public Schools employees, who routinely oppose merit pay.
Whitt also was against the idea. “It really doesn’t work,” he said.
Peters said the district should study the effectiveness of merit-pay systems and then make its decision. “Every idea has to be on the table,” he said.
Sessions said merit pay is a good idea on paper but not in reality. He also said if teachers don’t support it, the district shouldn’t install it.
A merit-pay system for Columbia teachers is already being studied. At a January board work session, after a long debate about studying effective teachers and how to reward strong teachers, the school board OK’d the following language for a long-term district objective: “By 2014-15, the district will study, develop and consider implementation of an appropriate supplemental employee compensation system to recognize and reward outstanding performance in which a portion of employee pay will be based on student performance gains and/or other relevant factors.”
Reach Jonathon Braden at 573-815-1711 or e-mail jbraden@columbiatribune.com.
This article was published on page A12 of the Friday, March 19, 2010 edition of The Columbia Daily Tribune.
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