Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Monroe County Schools Superintendant Joseph Burke, along with the School Board, is proposing to fundamentally change the way teachers' pay is determined. Rather than paying teachers based primarily on how long they have been with the district, the new criteria would be heavily influenced by the achievements of the students. Stated another way, teachers would be paid based on merit, with that merit measured by student performance.

This effort to revamp educators' pay structure is not simply a good idea -- it is the law. The state of Florida recently adopted new requirements mandating that at least 50 percent of a teacher's pay be determined by teacher performance.

Leon Fowler, president of United Teachers of Monroe, argues this type of structure has been tried in the past and has failed. While we find Mr. Fowler's perspective to be defeatist, he's not alone. Teachers unions across the country have long resisted efforts to base pay on performance.

Nonetheless, it must be acknowledged that the concept is not as simple as it may sound. Accurately measuring performance can be difficult, particularly in the realms of instructing developmentally or behaviorally challenged students. Clearly, different criteria must be applied to different circumstances.

But even more clear is the fact that the current compensation system based on longevity -- a system that harkens back to the 1940s -- is not conducive to providing the best education possible to our children. In fact, rewarding teacher incompetence in the classroom is just as damaging as passing to the next grade students who lack the proficiency to do so.

Burke and the board are in the process of negotiating pay increases for school district personnel, and these negotiations can't be separated from the movement toward performance-based pay. Agreement will be difficult.

The superintendent has acknowledged these challenges, and promises to bring creative solutions forward.

If our nation's education system is to recover the educational edge lost to other nations, merit pay for teachers logically will be part of the solution. We are confident that Burke, a supporter of the merit pay concept, can set the Monroe County district in the right direction.

If the pay criteria is fair, and the mission truly is quality education, then he should have the support of Keys teachers and the union that represents them.

-- The Citizen