Mark Tallman, associate executive director for advocacy at KASB, said he wasn’t aware of research-based consensus that pay for performance improved overall academic results in the classroom. It is a topic best left to locally elected school boards, he said… “K-NEA lobbyist Mark Desetti said state legislatures wading into the incentive pay “fail to understand the essential nature of teaching… “Desetti said research had established links between the study of music and success in math but merit systems wouldn’t recognize the contribution of a fifth-grade band teacher when evaluating effectiveness of a high school calculus instructor. “Brian Koon,...
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The Unique Insanity of Teacher Merit Pay
Thank you for this well-done piece, Marcel Harmon. Merit pay was up for discussion in the House Education Committee recently. “Falling back on another trite saying, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” With such a long, unproductive and repeated history, it would seem that teacher merit pay is its own special brand of insanity. The evidence suggests that if you want to positively impact student success, across a wide range of measures, start by providing teachers and staff with a competitive base pay and benefits package, with starting salaries and...
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Leave a Comment Extraordinary need fund swept by governor
So, the “extraordinary need fund,” paid for by school districts, became a state tax, with the state keeping $2.9 million of the $12.3 million raised. “It was fair to wonder in November whether school districts might ever see the $2.9 million remaining of the total $12.3 million in the ‘extraordinary needs fund,’ which the Legislature created (at districts’ expense) to provide additional aid to those experiencing unforeseen hardships from the transition to block grants. Wichita’s USD 259, for example, was charged $1.1 million, requested $980,000 back to help handle its refugee influx and was awarded just $366,000 from...
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Leave a Comment JOCO Educators correct Melcher teacher salary data
Sharing a Facebook post from our friends at Johnson County Educators THE TRUTH ABOUT JOHNSON COUNTY TEACHER SALARIES Last week we shared news articles quoting comments made by Sen. Jeff Melcher of Leawood concerning teacher pay. Melcher is quoted saying, “It’s actually a pretty good living. I look at the two districts that I represent, and the average compensations are pretty spectacular in comparison to a lot of other vocations.” The day after he made these comments, Sen. Melcher further commented in an Education Committee meeting that the average teacher salary in the Shawnee Mission School District is...
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