Plan for Teacher Pay is OK’D

By Cynthia Boyd, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Oct. 13–The Mounds View School District is first in the east metro and fourth in Minnesota to be approved for QComp, a state-funded program that ties teacher raises to their performance and student achievement.

It means the district will receive $2.7 million this school year toward continuing and implementing an alternative compensation program that Mounds View administrators and teachers have been developing over several years. A key feature is peer review of teachers.

In making the announcement Wednesday at Edgewood Middle School in Mounds View, Gov. Tim Pawlenty praised the district for “being a leader and a lighthouse” and having the courage to be part of Minnesota’s effort to link professional development and compensation to academic achievement.

The governor proposed QComp and legislators approved the program, which will provide up to $86 million over the next two school years for districts that join. Because of it, Mounds View will receive $260 per pupil in additional state revenue this year.

“QComp provides an opportunity for teachers to enhance their skills, which will help raise student achievement. It also compensates teachers based on performance, not just seniority,” Pawlenty said.

Traditionally, seniority and continuing education have determined teacher pay increases.

Mounds View’s version of the reform plan, which is called the Mounds View Teacher Professional Pay System, includes:

— Documented improvement in student achievement.

— Peer review, which is new this year.

— A teacher mentor program, which previously had been dropped because of cost.

— School improvement plans.

— Team and individual teacher goal setting.

— Professional development determined by building teams.

— Site-based teacher leaders.

At the announcement were district administrators, Mounds View School Board members and representatives of the Mounds View Education Association, the teacher’s union.

“Thank you, teachers, for really making it happen,” said Barb Kettering, president of the Mounds View Education Association. Kettering said a new feature of the plan is that “every teacher is observed every year” in the classroom by teacher leaders.

The union and the district have worked together for about seven years, laying groundwork for an alternative compensation plan, Mounds View Schools Superintendent Jan Witthuhn said.

“Our decision to implement QComp represents a shared commitment to do what’s best for students by aligning teacher compensation with teacher performance and student achievement goals,” Witthuhn said.

“We believe all these processes are designed not just to adjust compensation, but to drive higher achievement in an already high-achieving district,” Mounds View School Board Chairman Mark Kimball said.

Hopkins, St. Francis and Minneapolis school districts also are involved in QComp.

Chas Anderson, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Education, said 12 school districts and 18 charter schools have applied for QComp funds for 2005. More than 100 school districts and about 30 charter schools have either applied for funds or intend to apply next year.

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