In a valiant effort, outgoing Superintendent Edwin Diaz and
representatives for the teacher’s union, including teacher
representative Michelle Nelson, have outlined the possibilities in
a proposal to boost teacher pay where needed and merited.
In a valiant effort, outgoing Superintendent Edwin Diaz and representatives for the teacher’s union, including teacher representative Michelle Nelson, have outlined the possibilities in a proposal to boost teacher pay where needed and merited. The union says it will take it slow in rolling out the proposal, so there should be time not only for teacher questions and understanding, but for the community input that the teacher’s union and the district should seek.
For when all is said and done, there will be only one way to pay for salary increases that could be associated with this: a local tax on Gilroy Unified School District residents. So, without community support the proposal will be dead in the water.
Alternative compensation opens the door to exciting possibilities. Under alternative compensation, for example, this community could pave the way for higher paid math teachers, a desperate need in Gilroy. And should the students under those new math teachers succeed at a higher rate, teachers could earn bonus pay based on measurable data.
Introducing the free market and capitalism into the teaching ranks isn’t revolutionary, but it’s a key reform that is likely the linchpin for future student success.
It’s heartening for Gilroy to be taking a leadership role in California on such a critically important issue, and it will be a fascinating interview question for candidates hoping to become Gilroy’s next superintendent of schools.
Though the devil is in the details, and it won’t be an easy process, we agree with Gilroy High School English teacher Paul Winslow who said, “I think teachers should be financially compensated for taking on additional challenges.”
That, of course, should include pay based on student performance. As Mr. Diaz outlined it, students would simply be tested at the beginning of the year to establish a baseline and teachers would be compensated in part based on student improvement. Moreover, teachers could be rewarded for schoolwide achievements such as being recognized as a Distinguished School. That’s a great incentive for team-building, for individual teachers and for schools.
Unfortunately, Ms. Nelson prematurely seemed to pull the rug from under this most basic tenet when she told reporter Christopher Quirk, “The issue about paying teachers around student (academic) growth is that there are too many variables to give extra compensation. The teacher has no control over which students he or she gets in any given year.”
Establishing a student performance baseline would negate that argument entirely.
Hopefully, the teachers will have an opportunity to speak before being spoken for. The community, too, should be queried.
Intractable statements and strident positions should be set aside in favor of dialogue and listening. An alternative compensation plan, fashioned correctly, could very well serve the teachers, the school district and, most importantly, this community and its students.
