Gilroy
– A group of district bigwigs said they will form a committee to
explore an alternative compensation model for Gilroy teachers.
Gilroy – A group of district bigwigs said they will form a committee to explore an alternative compensation model for Gilroy teachers.
The model could allow for teachers to earn more money than through the current step-and-column system – which rewards teachers for time spent in the district and hours spent in class – and could solve district staffing problems, said Edwin Diaz, superintendent of Gilroy Unified School District.
“It’s compensating for additional skills acquired, it’s compensating for addressing the most critical needs,” he said. “It’s a broad system of alternative compensation that is more than just improved student performance results.”
Previous to announcing the formation of the committee, Diaz, Gilroy Teachers Association President Michelle Nelson and other district officials and administrators looked at school districts already using the alternative compensation model.
One of the districts, Denver Public Schools, pays teachers a base salary according to the number of years they have been in the district and then gives them percentage bonuses for meeting up to 10 different criteria.
As a reward for increased teaching skills, extra pay is awarded for professional development, possessing higher degrees and for being rated satisfactory by principals.
To fill in district gaps, teachers are also given bonuses for teaching subjects that have a shortage of teachers or for working in schools where the student population is deemed “hard to serve” – schools whose students are from low socioeconomic classes, have disciplinary problems or do not speak English as their first language.
Last, teachers are rewarded for their students doing well on tests of academic growth and for their school being selected as a Distinguished School.
Nelson and many Gilroy teachers are critical of this last measure.
“The issue about paying teachers around student (academic) growth is that there are too many variables to give extra compensation,” she said. “The teacher has no control over which students he or she gets in any given year.”
As a result of teachers’ fear of being graded on the performance of their students, much of the discussion about alternative compensation centers on what it is not.
Despite the measures of student growth, “it is not merit pay,” said Nelson. “When you say merit pay, everybody immediately shuts down.”
Diaz seconded Nelson.
“When people hear merit pay, people assume that it’s based on some arbitrary measure of performance. The difference with alternative compensation is, I think, it’s broader,” he said.
Even at the early stages, some teachers are on board with the prospect of a new compensation model.
“I think teachers should be financially compensated for taking on additional challenges,” said Paul Winslow, who teaches English at GHS and receives a stipend for speaking two languages.
Besides the issue of whether to give money to teachers based on student performance, a major hurdle for implementing the alternative compensation program will be finding the money to pay the teachers.
“Ultimately, down the road, (alternative compensation) will cost more money,” said Nelson, though she would not hazard an estimate at the eventual price tag.
While Denver instituted a new property tax to fund their program, Trustee Pat Midtgaard was hesitant to put the burden on taxpayers.
“The whole intent is that it does not come out of the general fund,” she said.
Midtgaard, along with Nelson and Diaz, advocated getting extra funds from nonprofits and the Teacher Incentive Fund, a national organization that supports performance-based compensation programs for school staff.
Even then, the funds would only be for starting up the program, while the cost of the alternative compensation plan would be recurring.
The increased expenditure is a necessary step, said Diaz.
“Without this type of infusion of additional resources into the system, I don’t think there’s going to be any kind of dramatic improvement in student performance,” he said
In addition to identifying funding sources, the committee – which will include a representative from each school in the district – will investigate criteria for bonuses and present a proposal for alternative compensation to the 555 members of the GTA for a majority vote. If approved, the proposal will then go to the GUSD board for approval.
The whole process is bound to take time, Diaz said.
“I think we’re at least a year away” from a proposal, he said. As for any compensation plan being implemented, “I’m a little bit more optimistic than most folks, so I would say two years,” he added.
Even with the extended timeline, the district is at the forefront of the issue, Diaz said.
“I truly believe this is the direction that the state will be heading in,” he said. “I’m hopeful that if the collaboration between the teachers and district stays strong, it could be a model plan for other districts in the state.”
