Putting the Professional in Teaching Part I

Nearing the end of a fourth year of a salary free with no cost of living adjustment, while probably entering a fifth year of the freeze and hoping there are no furloughs there are many frustrations as a teacher in my school district. This issue is prevalent in many districts throughout the United States and today my teaching partner Michael (@schneidermf) re-tweeted a blog post by Justin Baeder on Ed Week which discussed the flatness of teaching whether one is in their first or thirtieth year of teaching.
As we discussed the post today, I simply asked Michael if he was trying to prompt me to blog about an idea that I have had for four or five years about revolutionizing the payment system for teachers...which he was. This idea isn't perfect and there remain flaws in this system, but here are some thoughts that use professional sports as inspiration. This first installment will outline the plan and a follow up post will address potential areas of concern.

The Entry Level aka "Rookie" Contract ($35,000-$40,000)*
Contracts for teachers with 0-3 years of experience can be renewed on an annual basis and our given a modest salary increase each year that at least reflects a cost of living adjustment and slight salary increase from the previous year.  This will provide time for a young teacher to work at developing their craft with input from peers and administrators about how to improve. Part of this plan though needs to include a mentoring program from experienced teachers who are willing to work with those new to the profession and help them adjust to the ins and outs of the profession.  Similar to Mario Lemieux having Sidney Crosby live with him and his family for the first few years in the National Hockey League as he learned the ropes.

*These numbers are just hypothetical for the sake of having a specific dollar amount to look at.

Years 4-10 ($40,000-$60,000)
Upon entering the fourth year of employment, teachers would be able to negotiate with their school administration a contract extension that would last for x number of years at salary x, with an annual raise of x. In this time period there would be a range of salaries that can be earned and it would be up to administration to determine the value of a teacher to their building, thus a teacher entering year four could make less, the same or more as a teacher in year ten based upon the perceived value of them to the school, similar to the way a professional team does with players on their roster.
Teachers that are considered strong might be offered longer contracts to keep them part of the school, while others could be offered shorter term contracts.
The caveat to this era of a teaching career is that it would be the start of a teacher's "free agency" other schools both in and out of the district could make offers to teachers that they want to join their staff. If a school or district presents an "offer sheet" to a perspective teacher, the current school of that candidate can offer a matching or better contract offer in order to retain their services.

Years 11+ ($50,000-?)
During this portion of a career teachers would once again be working within a set salary range and contracts would be negotiated for a specific time period. This system would retain some aspects of the current system in that the pay scale does rely upon longevity to some extent, but would put a responsibility upon building administration to be in touch with the work of their staff as it related to negotiating. Again, "free agency" would play a role with other schools/districts being able to find those shining stars that they feel would be a solid addition to their staff. What the metrics are that determine one's value aren't exact as I don't believe that bubbling a test on one day provides a true representation of a teacher's "value or worth". Thus measurement of teachers would be a mixture of objective and subjective evaluation, similar to that of a general manager deciding the value of player at the professional sports level.

The Fine Print
This system could provide incentives in contracts that would include providing funding for graduate programs and PhD studies, Professional Development funding for conferences, release time to pursue school related matters in exchange for a commitment from that teacher for a specified amount of time.
Moving to such a system though would require a consistent source of funding for schools that would provide them with an ability to budget for an extended period of time (say five year increments) to ensure that they remain fiscally sound.
Separation clauses would need to be developed for instances in which a teacher decides to leave prior to a contract being up (spouse changes jobs, change in career, retirement) if schools were to cover the cost of a Master's program and the teacher leaves prior to fulfilling their obligations.

Throwing It Out There
Thus is my loose idea about how to put the professional in teaching, there are some new concepts presented and the preservation of traditional pieces in the way that teachers are compensated. In no way is this plan without flaws as mentioned above, hopefully though it provides some food for thought. In the sequel post to this topic, I will address the some of limitations that I potentially see and offer some thought about how to shorten gaps that are present.