Salary incentives for successful teachers

We are pleased to share an article from today’s Washington Post on the growing movement in the United States towards providing salary incentives for successful teachers. Various school districts have been experimenting with such programs over the past several years.

In some cases performance has been measured by improvements in student test scores; in others it has been based on an evaluation of teachers’ knowledge and instructional skills. Now Congress is debating a national proposal that would be included in the renewal of the No Child Left Behind Act and would offer a bonus of up to $12,500 each year to high-performing teachers working in high-poverty schools. “Performance pay” has been fiercely resisted by teachers unions, who argue that it makes negotiating contracts difficult, and is based on an inappropriate indicator–student test scores. On the other hand, proponents argue that it is logical to pay good teachers more, and that not doing so drastically limits the ability of school systems to recruit and retain good teachers.

The Washington Post | Support Grows for Teacher Bonuses