Bonuses lure some of the best teachers to low-performing schools

By Carol Chmelynski

05/04/04 -- In an effort to lure highly qualified teachers to low-performing schools, the Mobile County, Ala., school board voted Feb. 10 to do what a small but growing number of districts are considering -- pay teachers more money for working in what are considered less attractive jobs.

As school districts face growing pressure to raise student achievement among all groups of students, more are turning to the idea of luring their best teachers to their worst schools. In recent years, both the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers have endorsed the use of incentives to get high-performing teachers into hard-to-staff schools.

In Mobile, teachers who accept the offer can earn up to $40,000 in bonuses over five years -- including a $4,000 signing bonus each fall and another $4,000 "award for success" at the end of each school year if students perform well. The average salary of a Mobile County teacher is $37,200 a year, says Paul Tate, assistant superintendent for human resources.

To be chosen to work at the designated schools, teachers must be considered highly qualified. That means they passed a standardized test in their subject area or have taken a certain number of college courses in the subject they are teaching and have at least one year of teaching experience.

Funding for the $1.8 million bonus program would come from a variety of sources, Tate says, including federal Title I and Title II funds, local tax revenue, and grants from the state's tobacco settlement.

Thirteen of the district's 100 schools are labeled low-performing. The district transferred all staff out of the five lowest-performing schools and required them to reapply along with other applicants.

Under the plan, librarians and counselors are eligible for the same incentive pay as teachers. Principals can earn $60,000 in bonuses over five years, including a $6,000 annual signing bonus and another $6,000 bonus in any year the school achieves adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act. Assistant principals can earn five-year bonuses of up to $45,000.

Tate says the extra pay is necessary because "each year, only new, inexperienced teachers and principals would accept jobs at inner-city schools that have low test scores, predominately African American students, and high numbers of special ed students." They would generally stay for three years then apply to transfer to a suburban school.

As a result, he says, "We would see no gains at the inner-city schools because there is no consistency. There is no stable administration or teaching faculty."

"We knew we had to do something to improve our situation," Tate says. The district formed teams and sought community input over an eight-month period. That resulted in a plan to reward teachers for agreeing to work with the most challenging students.

"It's a big, big job going into a low-performing school, and these teachers have to make a special commitment to these children," says school board member Hazel Fournier.

"If you were dying of cancer, you would want the best doctor you could find," she says. "Our children are dying a death of illiteracy. Therefore, we have to give them the best teachers we have. And if we want to keep these teachers in these schools, we need to compensate them for all the extra effort that the job demands."

The Denver school district's newly approved salary system, ratified by the Denver Classroom Teachers Association March 19, gives teachers a chance to earn extra pay for achieving certain objectives aimed at improving student achievement.

Under the new Professional Compensation System for Teachers (ProComp), teachers will receive annual salary increases for demonstrated student growth, for acquiring additional knowledge and skills related to student achievement, and for working in schools judged academically distinguished.

In addition, highly qualified teachers who choose to work in schools with the greatest academic need and teachers and specialists who accept hard-to-fill positions also will qualify for bonuses. Funding for the new system must be approved by voters before it can take effect.

The Hamilton County school district in Chattanooga, Tenn., has a pay incentive plan that pays high-performing teachers an extra $5,000 a year and principals an extra $10,000 a year to work in any of the district's nine inner-city schools for three years.

The plan started in the fall of 2002 when Mayor Bob Corker formed the Community Education Alliance, a group of 15 local leaders to recommend education reform in the nine schools.

The plan calls for teachers in these schools to receive cash bonuses, plus housing incentives offered through Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise and several foundations, free tuition for a master's degree from the Osborne Foundation; and free legal assistance through the Chattanooga Bar Association.

"We want the best and the brightest teachers to join us as the community comes together around these schools," says Corker. "We are constantly looking for new ways to add to our incentive package to reward teachers willing to make this commitment."

In January, the mayor announced that the city has "already experienced great victories and seen significant improvements in these schools."

Susan Swanson, director of urban education for the district, says the incentive pay plan in the inner-city schools is working so well that the district has extended the bonuses to urban middle schools.

"Turnover in the inner-city elementary and middle schools has dropped dramatically," she says. "The incentives are wonderful. They're a way to equalize or to make urban schools more attractive. But they are just one piece of the puzzle."

"People from the outside key into the bonuses; but people on the inside know that money alone won't do the trick," Swanson says. "It's a variety of things: leadership training, staff development, and strong support from the top." Also essential, she says, is a "visionary superintendent" and support from the teacher organization.

The Teaching Commission -- a private panel of 19 leaders in government, business, philanthropy, and education -- made the Chattanooga results a centerpiece of its recent call for a radical overhaul of teacher recruiting and compensation practices.