Chicago Public Schools will launch one of the nation's most ambitious merit pay systems with a $27.5 million federal grant that will allow the district to reward exemplary teachers and principals in hard-to-staff schools, officials announced Thursday.
It is the first time the Chicago district has experimented with the controversial concept of performance pay, and only one other Illinois district--East Aurora--has tried to link teacher pay to improving student test scores.
Chicago's grant from the U.S. Department of Education is the largest among school districts in the nation. The merit program will begin next school year.
It vaults Chicago into the center of a debate that's been brewing since the '90s about one of the most complicated and contentious ideas for school reform.
"This is monumental ... a historic day for Chicago schools," said schools chief Arne Duncan, who added that the groundbreaking proposal was crafted by a committee of award-winning teachers.
"We want to better retain and reward our best teachers. But this is not about competition. This is about building a team. There are no losers here. And we'll only go to schools that want this."
The program, funded for the first time this year, is part of President Bush's initiative to create a performance-based teacher and principal compensation system in high-need, high-poverty schools. Aside from the Chicago school system, 15 others are receiving grants this fall.
Performance pay has been a divisive issue between teachers unions and school administrators--and among teachers themselves. Unions have long argued that pay should be based on educational levels and seniority, while administrators counter that educators should be rewarded with extra pay for superior performance and working in challenging schools.
Determining what is fair
But as much as teachers welcome more pay, some question whether it's possible to develop a fair method for evaluating who best helps students learn.
The proposal is expected to be an issue in upcoming contract negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union, which has opposed pay increases linked to test scores or principal evaluations. The issue also represents a political dilemma for local union leaders, who face an election next year and don't want to alienate supporters or opponents of performance pay.
Chicago's proposal is distinctive in that the federal money would be spread around to everyone--from janitors to security guards--at the district's neediest neighborhood and charter schools. The largest annual bonuses, however, would go to teachers who showed outstanding leadership in improving their schools.
The extra money will start flowing to about 10 high-poverty schools in Chicago next year, for a total of 40 schools by 2010. District officials will select schools that have improved test scores over time, but also struggle with high teacher turnover.
During the announcement at Orr High School on the city's West Side, Mayor Richard Daley said he expects some resistance to the concept.
"If we don't think outside the box, we'll stay in the past," Daley said of the proposal. "The past doesn't reflect what we can do in the future."
Each school would receive an estimated $500,000 to $750,000 a year depending on the size of its staff, and individual teachers could see yearly bonuses of as much as $9,000 for superior work and student gains, Duncan said.
Jesch Reyes, a five-year teacher at Sumner Academy who helped design the program, said he believes the concept would be embraced at his North Lawndale elementary where 96 percent of students live in poverty and test scores have improved steadily in the last few years. He said the extra pay will not create morale problems, but rather reward teachers who work together on behalf of students.
`Exciting opportunity
"Teachers often ask themselves, `Is it worth it?'" said Reyes, who teaches 7th and 8th graders. "That's why this is such an exciting opportunity. The idea is that we're all striving toward the same goals."
Terrell Halaska, an assistant secretary for the Department of Education, said Chicago received more money than any other district because its proposal was innovative, shaped by teachers and supported financially by business and charitable leaders.
"Nothing helps a child learn more than a great teacher in a classroom," Halaska said. "But typically the most-qualified teachers aren't teaching in the highest-need schools."
Denver Public Schools also won a five-year federal grant this week that will allow officials to expand the district's new merit pay program, which has been praised nationally by education reformers and union leaders alike.
The Denver plan, approved by voters last year as part of $25 million tax hike, pays teachers more for working in high-poverty schools and improving student achievement. The Denver district, which received a $22 million federal grant, is one-fourth the size of Chicago's and has far fewer high-poverty schools.
News of the cash windfall received lukewarm support from Chicago Teachers Union officials, who said they are glad the city received the grant but want to ensure that the extra pay is "distributed fairly and equitably."
"The Chicago Teachers Union is open to new ideas and incentives for teachers and paraprofessionals because we believe them to be vastly underpaid," President Marilyn Stewart said in a statement.
"However ... we firmly believe any compensation `system' needs to be mutually developed if it is going to receive the CTU's support."
Stewart was out of town and did not attend Thursday's announcement.
Chicago officials said the program will improve teacher quality in the city's most challenged schools by creating incentives for them to stay and by rewarding teachers who act as leaders or take on extra assignments.
The program also promises to improve the quality of staff evaluations at selected schools, because the money can only be given after "multiple" classroom observations by an outside evaluator.
To participate in the program, 75 percent of a school's staff has to vote in favor of it. Some schools might turn the money down because they fear the extra pay will create morale problems and an unhealthy competition on the staff.
Chicago could be model
A union expert who has worked on performance pay matters for the last 15 years said Chicago could be a national leader on the issue if the district doesn't rush headlong into a program without widespread buy-in from teachers.
"The devil is in the details, and it's far more complicated than people think it is," said Rob Weil, deputy director of educational issues for the American Federation of Teachers, the umbrella organization for more than 1 million union teachers and school employees nationwide.
"Just throwing money at this is not necessarily the best way to do it. And it's a sword that can cut both ways. If it's done well and collaboratively, it can be good for teachers and students. But if it doesn't work well [in Chicago], people will question these kind of endeavors in the future."
