Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Teachers' contract includes peer review



Education Week is reporting that the teachers' union in Newark, NJ has agreed to a new contract which gives teachers an incentive to perform well in the classroom:

A newly ratified teachers’ contract in Newark creates several firsts for New Jersey.

Some teachers will have the opportunity to earn up to $12,500 extra for getting a superior performance rating on evaluations, teaching in a low-performing school, or teaching a high-need subject. Also for the first time, peer reviews will become a formal part of the evaluation process.

This is an excellent idea. It's not the first such teacher contract in the country, but most base pay solely on tenure. I hope the idea of performance pay will succeed and spread.

Davis should have such good leadership, ideas and contracts as Newark now has. It's a shame our school district pays bad teachers as much as they pay good, and it's even sadder that there is no process to fire underperforming teachers.

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