Teachers and Unions

Teaching salaries may no longer depend simply upon tenure or the type of degree an educator holds. Instead, their compensation as teachers may be based upon how well their students perform on tests!

In 2012 former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg recently declared that student test scores would be a deciding factor in determining which teachers should be awarded tenure and which should not. Considering that tenure influences a teacher’s pay, this declaration inherently ties together test scores and compensation. Bloomberg also made a speech in Washington, alongside the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in which he called upon the NY state legislature to require all school districts in the state of New York to use "data-driven systems" to evaluate teacher and principal performance.

Although such proposals for performance-based pay for teachers have historically been fiercely opposed by teachers' unions, they are gaining ground in a number of states and seem to be part of a general larger trend towards increased school accountability.

This video from PolicyEd discusses the issue of performance-based teacher pay.

Supporters: Performance-Based Pay Will Benefit Students

The ranks of performance-based pay advocates have been growing in recent years. As the New York Times reports, Mr. Duncan said during Bloomberg's recent Washington press conference that "Everyone agrees the current system is broken." Those who support basing teacher evaluations on student test scores tend to say that performance-based

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act mandated that all public schools evaluate their teachers based upon stricter qualifications. However, not all schools have revamped their employee rosters and hiring checklists, leading parents to wonder, "are my child's teachers still qualified?"

According to the US Department of Education in 2005, all public school teachers must be considered "Highly Qualified" in order to teach. To be labeled as a "highly qualified teacher," instructors must hold a bachelor's degree, full state certification, and proof of subject-area competency.

While the standards of a "highly qualified teacher" are generally reasonable, many schools in the United States expressed challenges in achieving these goals. Specifically, schools in rural areas found it nearly impossible to hire new, "more qualified" teachers than the limited number currently employed. As a result, the mandates of NCLB were revised to allow for more flexibility.

To find out if your local public school teachers meet all of the NCLB qualifications, consider the following standards outlined by the legislation.

NCLB "Highly Qualified" Requirements

The requirements for achieving the "highly qualified" teaching status depends upon one's subject area and additional state-based guidelines. Generally, all elementary teachers are required to meet the following criteria:

• More than 180 days of teaching experience
• Pass state-mandated subject tests
• Certified for all elementary education (as opposed to specific subject areas)

Middle school and high school teachers are required to meet the following criteria:

• More than 180 days of teaching experience
• Passing score on state subject-area tests