Ballard’s teacher pay plan has lawmakers’ attention
OUR VIEWS State asked to help with proposal
The Oklahoman Editorial
Comments 
48
Published: November 3, 2009
ASIDE from consolidation, perhaps nothing gets the education establishment riled up like talk of merit pay. Still, the issue gets lip service from time to time at the state Capitol, especially when teachers want a pay raise and some salty lawmaker has the audacity to suggest that there ought to be some accountability attached.
But a recent conversation at the Capitol between
Tulsa schools
Superintendent Keith Ballard and a legislative task force feels like more than a passing fancy. That’s partly because Ballard doesn’t give up easily and has much credibility among legislators from his days as head of the
Oklahoma State School Boards Association. But it’s also because Ballard isn’t talking about merit or performance pay in some generic way. He has a plan.
It’s a very specific one, developed over several months with the help of consultants and with the teacher union’s blessing on the dime of the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Ballard said the key is a strong evaluation component that uses a variety of data to assess teachers. And even a down economy isn’t enough reason for legislators to put off the issue if they have the will and believe it’s right for kids, Ballard said.
The superintendent thinks it will take $15 million for Tulsa to implement his entire plan but that the state could set aside a pot of $5 million for Tulsa and
Oklahoma City to start pilot performance pay programs as proof that the plan will work.
It’s too early to say whether any legislator will feel strongly enough to carry the issue in a tough budget year likely to be dominated by cuts rather than new programs. But there are other reasons why the timing isn’t so bad.
Even though it was unsuccessful, Tulsa’s effort to land a Gates Foundation grant to improve teacher effectiveness was monumental. The district rallied tremendous support from many corners, including the union, city officials and the philanthropic community. Ballard is determined not to let that go to waste and is still working to raise money to fund the evaluation and performance pay components developed as part of the grant proposal.
The plan also could qualify Tulsa for federal money available under several new
U.S. Education Department grant programs, including the Race to the Top fund.
Tulsa’s road would be eased if the state would chip in. And finally —
finally —
Oklahoma could really talk about paying great teachers more for the critical work they do instead of paying those great teachers the same as the ones who only bothered to show up.
Oklahoma could really talk about paying great teachers more for the critical work they do instead of paying those great teachers the same as the ones who only bothered to show up.
Leave a Comment
News Photo Galleriesview all
Prev
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).
If the legislation at hand would give grants to individuals to further their education I would fully support it. Maybe vouchers to get their children out of the broken public education system and into a a privte system. But to continue to pump more and more money into a system that is broken is ludicras. It amazes me that the people have not had a full revolt against our current education system and demanded that it be fixed. Oklahoma is behind in every area of education and until that is addressed through a means other than teacher pay raises we will continue to be. We need true change not the lip service of the teachers union and a few politicians looking to stay in office.
You believe the State should focus more on improving the home life of Oklahoma citizens? More government intervention into people's lives?
And you missed my point. I realize teachers are not social workers. But teachers are expected to do more and more social work. Teachers are expected to teach character education. Teachers show many students more love and compassion than they see at home.
Do you think schools in affluent areas are good only because of the teachers/administrators? No, the parents have just as much to do with that. Most of your underperforming schools are in areas where parental involvement is nil. But yeah, it's all because of the teachers, right?
MBA..I read somewhere that if both SQs pass, the one with the most votes wins.
What SQ 744 will do is something that needed to be done for a very long time. It will cause our Legislature to actually have to look at every revenue source to see what needs to be done to maximize State revenue. They will need to look at tax credits and exemptions, reassess the tax cuts and perhaps raise taxes slightly, probably small increases in sales/use tax and income tax. At this point it is too hard to tell. But, the Legislature will have three years to do it. Maybe a better way would have been to propose a permanent one cent sales tax for education or an additional 5 or 10 mill State property tax. In any event, it needs to be a revenue source that cannot ever be touched by the Legislature. I am more of a proponent for the notion of “if you mandate it, find a revenue source to cover it”. But, this is the only vehicle schools have our there and at this point, something is better than nothing. I feel as if I have been writing novels in my posts lately.
The money given to school districts for the first $3,000 pay increase given teachers many years ago was distributed in a different manner than today. School districts received funding for this raise based on the number of teachers they had. Plain and simple. You have 100 teachers, your district received $300,000 plus the FICA. You received this allocation in a separate line item and it was easily tracked. Our Legislature has since done away with this practice by moving all pay raise funds (including the first $3,000 pay raise) into the Formula. So now, the money a district receives for teacher pay raises is based on weighted students, not the number of teachers a district has. Also, it is very easy to hide the funds when they are comingled with all the other educational funding.
You mention the Lottery money. Our Legislature used the schools’ Lottery money to fund a portion of the last $3,000 teacher pay raise they gave. Since these raises are ongoing each year, the Lottery money must be used to fund it every year. By the way, they put the Lottery money in the State Education Funding Formula also, but that’s another rant.
You mention cuts in education. Last year, the school support employee health care premiums were not fully funded. This year, schools have been taking a 5% cut in their monthly allocations just like other State agencies. The healthcare premium increases set to go in effect in January are not fully funded. These underfunded mandates amount to budget cuts. School districts must still fulfill these obligations even if the money is not provided by the Legislature. That’s the law.
Poor preparation of students by prior year teachers
Poor parental involvement
Poor curriculum "experiments" by administration
Popularity contests
Variable student abilities each year
Maybe a combination of improvement in test scores, principal evaluation, and an independent evaluation from the school board based on observation.
And this BS of "they only work 8 months a year" gets tiring. The peolpe who spout this obviously don't know real, dedicated teachers.
There are great teachers doing a great jobs. I'll say what I said on other threads, find out which ones these are in your school and do all you can to get your kids in those classrooms.
Our education system is broken and it must be fixed. I am not saying teachers do not deserve a fair wage. I am just saying if you do not perform you duties to an acceptable level then you should not be rewarded with a raise. That is something you learn in business 101. You should know that since you worked in the business arena. Oh wait, you worked for a banking institution that was probably bailed out by tax payer dollars and then gave fat bonuses to their executives who bancrupted our economy. This is what is wrong with our country today. Everyone feels entitled!