In a deft move, governor resurrects merit pay framework at 11th hour
The governor successfully and deftly attached a merit pay framework to another bill passed Tuesday by a House Education subcommittee and then the full committee, surprising and disappointing representatives of the state’s two largest teacher organizations, both of whom said they were unaware that the amendment was coming and that teachers will be angered over the political maneuvering. Now, the bill goes to the full House next week for what promises to be a spirited debate.
Representatives of the Georgia Association of Educators and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators expressed dismay that the House Education Committee would act on such a complex topic on the 37th day of the 40-day General Assembly session and without teacher input.
But as House Education vice-chair Fran Millar noted, the state had another deadline that forced the rapid action — Georgia’s reapplication for a federal Race to the Top grant in which performance pay is a key component to land the prize. Georgia came in third in the first round, in which only two states, Delaware and Tennessee, won grants. The state has vowed to come out a winner in round 2.
“This is also about $500 million,” said Millar, in a slight overestimation of how much Georgia could get if it won a Race to the Top grant. “This is one of the criteria to be in the Race to the Top game. So, if we’re going to be in the game, let’s be in the game.”
With that, the committee gave its blessing to the amendment, but not before state Rep. Tommy Benton (R-Jefferson) asked, “Are we trying to do an end run on merit pay here?” (The educators in the hearing room responded “yes.”)
To be clear, the language attached late this afternoon to Senate Bill 521 at the behest of Gov. Sonny Perdue does not mention merit or performance pay or reference the salary schedule. The governor could not get an outright merit pay bill through the Senate this session, but clearly was determined to offer the feds some proof that Georgia is at least laying the groundwork for a system that pays teachers based on how successful they are with their students.
The Perdue amendment takes a more indirect route, requiring statewide uniform teacher evaluations created and enacted by the state Board of Education by July 1, 2011. That single evaluation tool for teachers can take into consideration several factors, including student progress on standardized tests, peer review and parental input.
In a concession, the House Education Committee softened the language sought by the governor’s office, which wanted the bill to mandate that 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation depend on a measure of student progress as reflected in test scores.
Now, the bill says that the statewide evaluation tool to be developed by the state board and used by every school system may consider student progress in deciding how well a teacher performs. However, the change was a hollow victory because the state board of education could easily reinsert the mandate language. The bill gives the governor-appointed school board free hand in developing the evaluation instrument and terms. This clearly paves the way for merit pay, said Herb Garrett of the Georgia School Superintendents Association.
As PAGE member Margaret Ciccarelli explained, the evaluations that teachers receive influences whether they are deemed unsatisfactory for two or more years, which, in turn, can lead to dismissal or a salary freeze. It is not accurate, she said, to contend that the teacher evaluation is not linked in any meaningful to salary.
While PAGE shared the belief that student performance and teacher evaluations should somehow be linked in the future, Ciccarelli told the House committee, “Day 37 is not the time to do it.”
She was followed to the podium by Marcus Downs of GAE. He told the committee that Georgia lost out in the first round of Race to the Top not only because it had no merit pay plan in the works, but because it failed to have all education stakeholders at the table, including teachers. “Our input was not sought. We were again not part of the discussion that was just held,” he said.
Downs was particularly upset that the Senate education committee had only this morning taken up Senate Resolution 1290, which said, in part:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA that there is created the Joint Study Committee on Performance Based Salaries for Teachers to be composed of 12 members as follows: three members of the Senate to be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, three members of the House of Representatives to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, three local board of education members to be appointed by the Governor, and three teachers, one each to be appointed by the Governor, the Georgia Association of Educators, and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators.
Committee members expressed concern about whether there was enough time to tackle such a controversial issue, but in the end most voted for it. It passed 12 to 2.
House members did pepper Erin Hames, the governor’s policy director, with questions about how this would impact the investment thus far in Class Keys, an evaluation system now being piloted in 1,200 Georgia schools.
Here are points that Hames mades about Class Keys in response to the committee questions:
- The state has spent $600,000 on Class Keys, all federal dollars. It hopes to build on Class Keys rather than discard it in developing a single uniform way of evaluating teachers. (The state would also develop companion tools to assess principals and assistant principals.)
- The Class Keys evaluation instrument is now in the “validation” phase to see how it is working. One issue is that Class Keys does not now contain a student progress component so that would have to be developed by DOE in rapid fashion to start using it in 2011.
- Only 30 percent of Georgia teachers teach classes where there are standardized tests that could be used in their performance evaluations to assess student progress. That means some other measure of student progress would have to be developed for 70 percent of the state’s teachers. Hames was confident that could be done, and would seek the input of teachers to do so.
In noting the objections of GAE and Page, Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley cited a teachers survey done by the governor’s office in November and December and the response to questions on whether teachers should be evaluated on student performance. The governor’s office maintains that eight out of 10 teachers favor it.
“It seems like PAGE and GAE are out of touch with what teachers actually believe…’Teachers should be evaluated both on classroom observation and the degree to which their students have grown academically” — 81 percent,”’ said Brantley in an e-mail.
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233 comments Add your comment
Georiga voter
April 20th, 2010
8:56 pm
1st thing that needs to happen is to dump CRCT. THEN we can talk about fixing the education system in this state. Do you want your kids teachers to “teach the test” OR educate your children? Your choice.
Mid-South Philosopher
April 20th, 2010
8:56 pm
Now that I have calmed down a bit…you folks know it is all part of the “vast reformist conspiracy”, don’t you? The ultimate goal is the privatization of public education with vouchers and the like for the “chosen ones”, while what is left is relegated to the “public schools.” “Big Daddy”, doesn’t fool anyone with an above the 6th grade education!
Mikey D
April 20th, 2010
8:56 pm
Happy Teacher… You think this was “more cautious than the previous leap”? Please tell me you’re joking. A sleazy backroom deal pulled by dishonest politicians and applauded by Bert “sonny’s word twister” Brantley? Buddy, I would LOVE to have some of what you’re drinking.
bootney farnsworth
April 20th, 2010
8:58 pm
will merit pay push out some folks who have no business in the classroom? sure.
will it be politicized and used as a weapon? damn straight.
consider this:
merit pay gets introduced – the students in the system are still
gonna be just as dumb and just as hamstrung as they were the year
before. teachers are not gonna be able to move that bar overnight.
but they will be judged by it nontheless.
Happy Teacher
April 20th, 2010
9:01 pm
This is a step towards a common teacher evaluation tool…a toe in the water compared to the full-on bill that proposed earlier. I’m not approving of how this was done, at all, but it happened, so I prefer to take the stance that since there is a ways to go between this and merit pay, we should try to interject ourselves into the process.
I don’t see many other options since this issue has a ton of power on its side.
Teacher&Coach
April 20th, 2010
9:04 pm
Just curious, but how do they intend on assessing specials teachers (PE, Art, Music, Orchestra, Band, Home Economics, etc.)? Secondly, how do they expect teachers to work their butts off and pay out the “yingyang” to get higher degrees and not get paid for doing so? Research shows that the best teachers are those that continually learn or seek further education. Third, how can teachers be effective without the tools necessary to do so? Keep cutting funding to schools, schools and systems have no money for supplies, class sizes are growing while individualized support is shrinking. Too many of my students, at the elementary level, see their parents sitting at home not working and think that it is ok to be just like mom and dad. Parents don’t discipline their children and we are fighting an uphill battle just to get them to behave long enough to teach them what they need to learn. Will they factor in all the influences on a student’s education? NO. What if we give the governor, the house and the senate merit based pay? Would they allow that to happen? NO. Education gets cut and they get raises. I don’t understand it, guess I never will.
Old Days
April 20th, 2010
9:04 pm
MSP – So is Obama a privatizing,voucher-fiend? Or a socialist demagogue?
I’m confused…
Maureen Downey
April 20th, 2010
9:06 pm
This is a general note to all new posters: Language will land you in our filter and I cannot release a comment with obscenities. Please rewrite your comments and they will post.
Thanks, Maureen
Please pause for a moment of stupidity
April 20th, 2010
9:06 pm
Can we take a moment of pause to acknowledge the gall, chutzpah and unsurpassed ignorance displayed by DeKalb BOE member Zepora Roberts when she indicated to the AJC today that she could not take a 5% pay cut to stand with teachers, because if she did only the wealthy would be able to serve on school boards?
Why oh why can’t there be a TWI-Talking While Ignorant-law on the books for school board members?
Fericita
April 20th, 2010
9:08 pm
Happy Teacher – I know students who come after a certain date in Oct. don’t count for a particular school’s AYP, but they do count for the county’s AYP. Anyway, I’m not so worried about AYP, but I am worried about my poor students (2 new ones since the beginning of March) who had to take a test for 5 days in a row, over 2 hours a day, in a language they don’t understand. They could have been using their time a lot more productively…What a waste of time!
Please pause for a moment of stupidity
April 20th, 2010
9:08 pm
I guess Maureen, you won’t be able to comment on Ms. Roberts, as her stand is the very definition of obscenity.
Reality
April 20th, 2010
9:10 pm
Teachers and parents need to respond HARD to this total BS.
I am sick sick sick of these GA republicans continuing to DESTROY education at every turn. And, republicans complain that the federal democrats pushed through the healthcare reform law, yet they are okay with these backroom deals secret to the public? Are you kidding???
@Happy Teacher – For some reason, I highly doubt you are a teacher at all. How in the world can ANYONE be happy about being judged on the performance of others? Teachers have no control over the students sitting in their room. They have no control over the students home life. They have no control over the students past education (or lack thereof). They have no control over whether the students ate dinner the night before. They have no control over if their students live in a motel stacked 12 deep in one room. They have no control over anything outside of their classroom. Yet, you are happy to be paid based on those student performances? Are you kidding?????
I have no idea how low this crap will go. Teachers need to unite and take action NOW. Unite. Walk out. Demand fairness. Stop being pawns and getting pushed around by politicans that don’t give a rats behind about education.
Reality
April 20th, 2010
9:11 pm
@Maureen – why was my post filtered? There was no obsence language at all. Help.
Educator2
April 20th, 2010
9:12 pm
@Please pause, She does that while she votes for others to experience cut jobs, pay cuts, furloughs and school closing.. amazing isn’t it?
Happy Teacher
April 20th, 2010
9:16 pm
Ferecita – I understand your point, I really do, but since everyone in the school is involved with proctoring, it’s a bit of a moot point. A lot of testing is certainly a waste of time, but it could be argue that since these students will be exposed to more testing in the future, they might as well get a feel for the climate.
T&C- most data actually shows that advanced degrees do little for student achievement.
Educator2
April 20th, 2010
9:17 pm
Ignorance is bliss and so are imaginary merit pay facts!
Reality
April 20th, 2010
9:18 pm
@Happy Teacher – You are no teacher. Please stop pretending. If you were, you would know that there is ALREADY a common assessment tool for teachers. It is the observation form used by school systems.
Stop pretending to like this crappy move by the GA republicans and pretending to be a teacher. No teacher that I know at all (and that is in the hundreds) is happy about this AT ALL.
Teachers have no control over their student performance. We cannot ensure that they are fed dinner at night. We cannot ensure that they get a good nights sleep. We cannot ensure that they study at night. We cannot ensure that they even have a pencil when they walk into our classroom. So you REALLY want your pay attached to your student performance? Give me a break!
One could be the best teacher in the world and use the latest and greatest pedagoy for their students and the students might still not perform well enough for your pay – then what?
Maureen Downey
April 20th, 2010
9:18 pm
Reality, Our filter also reacts to long posts. But you are now out. Maureen
Tired of the games
April 20th, 2010
9:24 pm
I heard a teacher tell a sad truth. Scores on a test ranged from 30% to 90%. All students had been taught the same materials, with students who struggled to understand receiving extra help. At what point is this far to teachers? Will there be an opportunity to measure growth? What a coincidence that this was tacked on,as some districts take part in high stakes testing.
Happy Teacher
April 20th, 2010
9:25 pm
@Reality Trust me, my veracity has been oft discussed on this blog and I have passed the test.
I guess teachers like myself accept the limitation of our students background, but are willing to believe that we can get them to perform higher in our course ath the end of the year than they did at the beginning, regardless of outside forces.
If you feel otherwise, i can certainly see where you are coming from, we have a very difficult job.
Courtney
April 20th, 2010
9:26 pm
Between Sonny Perdue and Chip Rogers this Lifelong Republican will be voting DEMOCRAT on the state level part of the ballot. I cannot wait until November when we can get rid of all the idiots like Perdue, Reid, Pelosi, et al…
Mikey D
April 20th, 2010
9:26 pm
Happy… We should try to interject ourselves into the discussion? Really? Why hasn’t anyone thought of that before??? (I hope you are picking up on my sarcasm!) I would LOVE to interject my opinion. But, my senator (Bill Hamrick) and representative (Tim Bearden) have yet to return MANY calls and emails. Apparently, they don’t really want us to interject ourselves into the discussion. Like every other time before, we are simply expected to bend over and take it.
For everyone who complains about unions, I really wish we did have a union in Georgia. There’s no way they would have rammed this thing through with ZERO teacher input if there was a real union.
high school teacher
April 20th, 2010
9:27 pm
First of all, we already have a common evaluation instrument. Teachers, raise your hand (respond) if you are not evaluated using the Georgia Teacher Observation Instrument (GTOI). Why does the state need to spend more money that we don’t have to develop a common evaluation tool when we already have one?
Secondly, we are in the worst budget crisis since the Depression (according to the media), yet we want to tie evaluations to student performance, which will require the creation of pre and post tests for all subject areas. Again, more money.
Thirdly, when Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle refers to Merit Pay as a way to trim the education budget, we are all destined to fail. He assumes that few teachers will receive merit pay when he makes a statement of that nature.
Finally, Poythress is looking really good as a Democratic governor.
Mikey D
April 20th, 2010
9:28 pm
Happy, you are at a charter school. Please don’t kid yourself into thinking that you deal with what the rest of us deal with day in and day out.
MH
April 20th, 2010
9:28 pm
I think Sonny needs to go work in a classroom for a while at a title one school!! I believe that teachers should be accountable to some extent but it shouldn’t be based on student test scores. Maybe an observer should come around unannounced to observe and grade teachers based on performance. The you would see whats going on when a teacher isn’t planning for anyone to be there. If you don’t like what you see then mark it and come back for another unexpected visit. I work at an elementary school and there are some students that can’t be helped no matter how much you teach. Find another way to grade teachers on performance!!
I’ve also decided that no Governor should ever be re-elected because, they do good the first four years and then they turn crazy the second four.
Math Teacher
April 20th, 2010
9:29 pm
A story from today – a student was being talked to by a teacher about his lack of motivation in another teacher’s class. She asked him, “If you sit in class and do nothing, are you hurting this man who has multiple degrees from very good schools or are you hurting yourself?” This did nothing to inspire him to learn. Well, if we are operating under merit pay, he would be hurting the teacher. If he isn’t motivated enough to learn for his own benefit, why do we think making the teacher suffer with him will help?
If we are really serious about getting better teachers and more qualified teachers (a very laudible goal), this is not the way to attract and retain talent. We will be making their choice between a career in education or the private sector an easier one.
Bell Curve
April 20th, 2010
9:29 pm
What good did Sonny do? He cut funding every year.
Happy Teacher
April 20th, 2010
9:31 pm
Mikey- I’ll put my demographics up against any…and it’s not like I’ve only taught in charters, so spare me that line.
high school teacher
April 20th, 2010
9:33 pm
Happy, how can you be in favor of a plan when you don’t know all of the details? Sure, I can get any student to show a little gain from the beginning of the year to the end, but how much is good enough? Is 5% okay? How about 10%? Don’t you think you should know this little detail before you support the plan? I teach gifted kids; most assume that gifted teachers will have it made under merit pay. However, what if I have a student who scores a 96% on a pre-test? Will I be expected to produce a student who makes 100% on the posttest? NO ONE KNOWS, which is why we veteran teachers are opposed to this idea. There is a very big devil in these details.
RBN
April 20th, 2010
9:33 pm
Pay cuts will come because bonuses will be on a quota. There is not enough money to increase some teachers salaries significantly without reducing most to some extent.
State Department has little competent staff left after their budget cuts, most are paid with federal monies, so who is going to develop the criteria for the majority who have no standardized tests.
Furthermore, Georgia’s CRCT is such a low level test that basing evaluations, thus salary and continued employment on it, will further move Georgia to a low level instruction state to match it.
Teachers wake up and push GAE and PAGE to become true unions. Get involved in both political parties. Show up to rallies at the capitol. Take a personal day to lobby next year. Demand funding for the children we teach. Demand a place as professionals in remaking our profession.
Pay-for-Performance can work as it has in Portland, ME, ciities in MN, and in Denver, CO—where it was bargained by teacher unions working as full partners with their local communities.
high school teacher
April 20th, 2010
9:36 pm
RBN, teacher unions are illegal in GA – we are a right-to-work state.
Happy Teacher
April 20th, 2010
9:38 pm
hst- I support the idea of merit pay and I think that we should be at the bargaining table every step of the way. That’s my position. I think you very astutely point out that the details aren’t in this plan, yet many bloggers have gone to assuming the worst. If merit pay turns out as they paint it, I certainly wouldn’t support it.
RBH – great post!
Feduprepublican
April 20th, 2010
9:38 pm
I can see the headlines a few years from now….Georgia Has Shortage of Teachers. Dear Republican controlled State of Georgia, can’t you see what you are doing to our great State? You’ve cut our local school systems to the bare bones. Now, you are hanging teacher’s salaries over their heads. Often, teachers are delt a bad hand with the kids they get. Some things you just can’t fix in one year. With all the cutbacks and added stress, who in their right mind would want to go to school to be a teacher in the future in Georgia? THANK YOU FOR NOTHING NOT-SO-SONNY AND FELLOW REPUBLICANS WHO WILL VOTE FOR THIS.
Educator2
April 20th, 2010
9:38 pm
When Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle refers to Merit Pay as a way to trim the education budget, we are all destined to fail.” Happy Teacher believes teachers are getting raises with merit pay and good teacher will get bonuses…(sheesh) Oh, he somehow he knows the evaluation tools for merit pay despite it not being included in the RTTT application. My favorite line is “interjecting” teachers in the process. If you have to “inject” yourself, doesn’t that mean you are not invited?
dogmom
April 20th, 2010
9:38 pm
The problem with the majority of Georgia’s politicians is that they have little or no respect for the teaching profession at all.
Governor Perdue: Do I tell you how to run your veterinary practice? No!
Lt. Governor Cagle: Did I tell you how to run your bank? No!
I did not attend veterinary school. I only know how to treat my dog from a lay person’s perspective. I do not have the necessary credentials to obtain my veterinarian license.
Now with Mr. Cagle, I probably could give some advice on how to run the bank since I have a business degree and several years of experience in the family business.
However, I chose to follow my bliss and attended library school to obtain my master’s in library science. Life happened and I found myself working as a school librarian. Went through the alternative certification process and eventually earned National Board Certification, too. I possess the necessary credentials to make informed decisions on how to run a school library program and teach information literacy skills across the entire curriculum.
Legislators, unless you have worked in the education field, quit telling me how to run my business. Consult professionals in the field (educators in this instance) when you decide to make radical changes to the system…just as those business tomes implore you to do.
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April 20th, 2010
9:41 pm
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middle school teacher
April 20th, 2010
9:41 pm
Happy Teacher, are you really Bert Brantley?
Happy Teacher
April 20th, 2010
9:44 pm
Yes! Finally the truth has liberated me! Thank you mst!
Maureen Downey
April 20th, 2010
9:47 pm
Hey folks. Here is the GAE report on today’s meeting.
Happy Teacher
April 20th, 2010
9:52 pm
Maureen – if this goes through, would Sonny have enough time to get a full-on merit pay bill done? Is this posturing for RTTT? Your insight would be appreciated.
middle school teacher
April 20th, 2010
9:56 pm
Happy Teacher, please know that I am kidding as I feel everyone has a right to his/her opinion about merit pay. You always state your case well.
Maureen Downey
April 20th, 2010
9:59 pm
Happy Teacher, I don’t know. After the hearing, some folks were speculating that the Senate could add salary language to SB 521 and then it would have to go back to the House for what is an agree/disagree vote. I would be surprised if the Senate wanted to go that far, but I was also surprised that the governor was able to get the House Education Committee on board today. As I told Erin Hames after the vote, I was impressed with how they were able to get this back, even in modified form. I really thought it was dead for this session, although Erin said several times in interviews that they would keep trying.
I certainly think that RTTT is the motivator here. Given the dire economic situation, the state would certainly love to get a grant.
The hurdle tomorrow is for Sen. Weber to get the House Rules Committee to move the bill out.
Maureen
Happy Teacher
April 20th, 2010
9:59 pm
No worries mst…I teach 5th grade. I have a very thick skin!
WideAwake
April 20th, 2010
10:00 pm
Merit Pay — More Children Being Left Behind.
I am a teacher and I teach in an urban area; where student come dirty, hungry, sleepy, and with the nonsense mentality. Then I call mom and dad and they say “I don’t know what to do with johnny–give me a call if I can help you with anything else.”
Another true story, Georgia students migrate all year round. I had a student in Sept 2009 he left in Nov. 2009 and returned in March 2010 — he was unprepared then and is unprepared now. If I had to accept merit pay for the 3 new students that were enrolled in March 2010 I know I am in trouble.
Educator2
April 20th, 2010
10:00 pm
“I support the idea of merit pay and I think that we should be at the bargaining table every step of the way. What bargaining table? Perdue has clearly stated that he does not plan on meeting with teacher groups, as a matter of fact he stated he never has meet with teacher groups. Happy teacher, do you actually read the AJC? Perdue decided to use a “survey” as his “talk” with teachers. This tactic today means no bargaining table. He had opportunity to form a bargaining table before RTTT, during the RTTT process and before this tactic. Perdue chose not to invite teachers. Maybe, you believe he will “invite” teacher after it becomes law. Really??
Dekalbite
April 20th, 2010
10:03 pm
Be sure to write and call Sonny Perdue and all your representatives. Ask every relative and friend to write Sonny Perdue and friend you have to call and write. Email every friend and relative and ask them to email their friends and family to write and call. Honestly, this is effective. Bring their email server down. Jam their phone lines.
WideAwake
April 20th, 2010
10:03 pm
Also, too much bureaucracy in the public education…Teachers are scared of the Administration…The Administration is scared of the BOE…the BOE is scared of the ones who fund them… and Johnny is scared of no one.
ScienceTeacher671
April 20th, 2010
10:04 pm
Happy Teacher, 13% could be considered a very robust and valid sample IF it was truly random and representative. The problem is, we really have no idea whether it is or not.
And I don’t see why you are so optimistic that teachers will be given a voice when they’ve been anything but so far.
RBN
April 20th, 2010
10:08 pm
Actually, teacher unions are not illegal. There was an Attorney General’s
opinion given in the 1970’s that strikes may be illegal, but only an opinion. By the way, teacher strikes are also illegal in New York state, and teacher union leaders there do go to jail, but they do strike. I personally beliieve that binding arbitration is a much better solution.
Regardless, it is time for teachers to stand up for our children and for our profession. Use every tool: run for office, vote, write, protest, rally, blue-flu, and if it comes to it, strike. If we do not, then the people currently in charge will destroy our children’s future and our profession.
Happy Teacher
April 20th, 2010
10:09 pm
ST671 – Wouldn’t say I’m optimistic, so I e-mail representatives like mad, but I hope, just hope, that leaders will look at places merit pay has worked (Denver, MN, ME) and see that teacher buy-in and participation is essential.
I might very well be disappointed, but, heh, wouldn’t be the first time…
Also, we got the survey in Gwinnett, but I don’t know how many teachers filled it out. The link posted above was pretty informative.