Klein, Weingarten, and the Door Shut on Individual Merit Pay. Huzuh??

If you've been following the incentive pay goings-on in New York City you'll know that the AFT's Randi Weingarten and NYC's Joel Klein and M. Bloomberg have reached an historic agreement regarding incentive pay for teachers. But depending on who you read or who you talk to the two groups are trumpeting different triumphs.

Klein for his part is touting the proposal's benefit for individual students, not to mention channeling the late Albert Shanker and hometown hero on 555 NJ Ave. Weingarten is clear about her position on merit pay. In a UFT press release she states, "School-wide bonuses properly refocus the misguided debate over individual merit pay."

But the terms of the agreement--largely a compromise to recoup significant back pay for retirees--are still somewhat about individual merit pay. Not all teachers are guaranteed merit pay, even under the whole school model as it is currently designed. UFT's press release states "Options include giving all staff the same amount or varying amounts based on their role in the school's improvement, but every UFT staff member is presumed to receive some bonus." I don't know about you but presumed doesn't instill a lot of confidence in me. And when the first teacher that gets a $1 bonus udner the incentive play plan writes a letter to the NYTimes we'll see if the spirit of togetherness rings true.

Weingarten is even quoted in the NYTimes, “This shuts the door on the individual merit pay plans that I abhor.”

It's AFT policy that they support collectively bargained incentive pay agreements--the organization gets misquoted a lot on this and often lumped in with the NEA who do not share the same view on incentive pay. AFT prefers using the method folks in NY are about to establish--whole school improvement equals bonus pay. Afterall it doesn't take the world's best argument to understand that learning, and thusly measurements of learning are not stochastic. Any number of teachers and factors over several years contributes to the development of child.

To Ms. Weingarten. I'm not so sure this does shut the door. I guess we'll see it play out in the details.

Progressive Pay in a Time Where We Must Be Bold

Eduwonk posts that Charlie Barone has turned in a history/stakes piece on No Child Left Behind that we should check out (pdf). I admit I liked it. It was nothing new, but Barone's clear prose makes the history of our moment at once more provocative and delicate. Where I didn't like it is at the end when he likened the famously, (and improperly) lumped teachers unions to a hypertensive, ready-to-burst apologist for the status quo--apoplectic is his word. AFT is clear when it comes to local unions who want to implement alternate pay structures--it supports them and helps them.

Democratic Candidates Speak with the AFT

Last week I attended the AFT Executive Council meeting. It was interesting to watch local union presidents jockey to submit amendments to various rules and adopt positions. Not to mention interest generated by some fairly shallow banter on charter schools (yes there are plenty of union folks who abhor charters, but to be fair there are plenty that have come around), and a rather contentious but short-lived "yea" vote to add an influential NED member to the AFT council. The highlights of the day came with several visits from Democratic Presidential Contenders (R’s were invited, but shockingly didn’t attend).

I caught former Senator John Edwards, Governor Bill Richardson, and Senator Barack Obama’s speeches and Q&A with the crowd. I missed Senator Clinton’s speech. The candidates’ talks were substantial in length—around 45 minutes or longer including questions from the crowd. Each came with a different approach and salved the crowd in their own way. All claimed to support labor without condition. All claimed to support NCLB, with numerous caveats.

John Edwards appeared to strike a chord with the crowd. He hammered home his commitment to labor. It may have been the most pro-labor statement a serious presidential candidate has made in years. He was funny and appeared committed to expanding the reaches of organized labor through federal law.

Governor Richardson highlighted his strong commitment to education, standards, and the successes he’s governed over in New Mexico. He relied heavily on the competition argument that’s been so popular since Friedman discovered the world is flat. He appeared strongest on education of the three with the most nuanced understanding of the landscape, but weakest on organized labor.

Senator Obama hopped into that third little bed and found it just right (Goldilocks and the Three Bears reference). The senator found a nice balance between supporting labor and improving the life chances of children long ignored by our educational system. He advanced his credibility with the group with his stories of his first job walking the streets of Chicago as an organizer. When pressed by a union president on charter schools, the Senator did not retreat, citing the need for more oversight and accountability, but also the need for alternatives where the traditional school systems have failed.

AFT Recs on Teacher Prep: Nice Square Pegs, Not So Nice Round Holes?

The AFT has just released (or rereleased) "An Urgent Call for Preparation Changes: Recommendations Made in 2000 Remain Valid but Generally Untouched." The recs follow:

• Raise entrance grade-point average (GPA) for teacher education programs. 2.75 GPA at the end of the sophomore year and phase it up to a 3.0 GPA.
• Institute a national entry test. It should be developed by the teaching profession and administered by the end of the sophomore year to select teacher education candidates. Proficiency in math, science, English language arts and history/geography/social studies should be tested.
  
• Require an academic major.
• Develop a core curriculum in pedagogy.
  
• Strengthen induction programs for new teachers.
  
• Strengthen the clinical experience. It should build on successful models, including using exemplary teachers to mentor student teachers. Also, preservice teachers should be placed in diverse teaching and learning settings and should assume non-instructional duties to understand the full range of teacher responsibilities.
• Institute rigorous exit/licensure tests on subject matter and pedagogy. They should be taken by all prospective teachers prior to licensure. Currently, the rigor of tests is inconsistent.
• Take a five-year view. Teacher preparation should be organized, at a minimum, as a five-year process.
• Require high standards for alternative programs. Students in these programs should be required to take pedagogical coursework and to pass state teacher-testing exams.

Makes pretty solid sense. Of course the trouble we run into, the same trouble I mentioned in my last post is getting enough educators to go through this process. The specter of a 5-year program and numerous hoops and obstacles to race through to the end prize, a career where teacher pay stumbles along with core inflation just doesn't sound so sweet. Especially when alternative entry points into teaching careers exist. Recs like these in a vacuum mean nothing. In other words, as long as there are myriad alternative views on teaching, learning, and public education, solid recommendations based on reasonable data will remain filled with caveats.