Recruit, retain, reward
New grant may mean increased pay for CMS teachers, principals
by Anna Butler
anna@thecharlotteweekly.com

The grant, designed to reward educators for increased student achievement in six CMS test schools, will provide $1.9 million during the 2007-08 school year. Billingsville Elementary, Wilson Middle, and E.E. Waddell, Garinger, West Charlotte and West Mecklenburg high schools will pilot the program; 10 additional high-need schools will become eligible in the four subsequent years.

The grant will help establish a Leadership for Educators’ Advanced Performance initiative consisting of four crucial goals: creation of a compensation plan for CMS teachers and principals who take achievement gains and classroom observations into account; recruitment and retention of teachers and principals in areas and schools deemed “hard to staff”; alignment and improvement of the district’s ability to build teacher and principal capacity; and the fostering of the ability to sustain the pilot program throughout the district.

The plan aims to boost teacher retention rates, a focal challenge at CMS’s high-need schools. “Teacher turnover is too high,” said CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman at the June 7 press conference. High-need elementary and middle schools currently average a teacher turnover rate of roughly 14 to 15 percent, whereas high schools average a rate of 18 percent. Retention of principals presents a greater challenge for CMS, with more than 30 percent newly hired over the past two years.
“We need to stabilize the staffs so that learning is not disrupted and can be enhanced,” noted Gorman, who called teacher and principal compensation the school system’s “single largest expenditure.” The pilot program aims to align the expense of teachers and principals with CMS’s highest goal: increasing student achievement.

The plan is a partnership between CMS and a Boston-based nonprofit organization, Community Training and Assistance Center. CTAC, which emphasizes planning and the tapping of managerial expertise in school systems and community organizations, was influential in developing an assisted program in Denver, Colo., which has garnered $25 million in taxpayer support following marked student improvement.

During the press conference, CTAC Executive Director William Slotnik showed enthusiasm in welcoming CMS as a grant recipient. “Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools are well positioned to become the next Denver – not by copying but by learning from their experiences and casting the direction that works for this community,” said Slotnik. “This grant demonstrates the federal government’s belief that CMS is ready to take the lessons learned from the landmark teacher-compensation system in Denver to a new level of impact on student achievement.”
The Teacher Incentive Fund, established in 2006 as a part of President George W. Bush’s initiative to reward high performance, aims to increase teacher and principal salaries by 10 percent at high-need schools where at least 30 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches.

Both Slotnik and Gorman believe the incentive further inspires schools and their employees to reach greater heights in the classroom. “It allows us to recognize our effective teachers,” said Gorman. “We have many teachers who are performing near-miracles every day in our classroom – and although these dollars are coming to reward that, it (remarkable teacher effort) is happening already. We have great teachers and principals; now I am proud to report we can give them more money.”

West Charlotte High rising junior Olivia Scott is excited that her teachers may receive rate rewards. “I’m in ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) so I stay after school and see a lot of my teachers working extra hard,” said Scott. “I know they are going to extra effort. It makes me want to achieve more since they do so much for us. I don’t want them to think their extra efforts are going to waste.”

Gorman acknowledged that further research into bonus structures versus pay increases is under way to avoid permanent rewards for schools that might regress after demonstrating increased achievement. He also indicated that the performance plan will employ evaluation tools already in place and rely heavily on student performances in state testing.