THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 14, 1996 TAG: 9603140504
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BUXTON LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
The Dare County Board of Education has unanimously approved a one-time incentive pay plan for teachers.
However, the proposal must be approved by the Dare County Board of Commissioners.
Under the plan, if the school district meets 75 percent of system-established ``benchmarks'' of student performance, the incentive bonus will be paid. All 339 certified classroom personnel, including principals and assistant principals, are included. However, central office personnel are not.
If goals are met, it could mean an estimated $700 one-time bonus for classroom teachers. Almost $240,000 was set aside in the 1995-96 school budget for incentive pay.
Next year, county schools will come under the umbrella of the state's ABC's of Public Education plan, which will hold individual schools in North Carolina accountable for performance.
``This is a one-time thing,'' Dare County Superintendent Leon Holleman said of the local incentive plan approved Tuesday night. ``The money, as I understand it, will be ongoing. But when the ABC plan goes into effect, we will work to bring our program in line with the state ABC guidelines.''
Holleman said the incentive pay is not related to a proposed increase in the teacher supplement. In January, the chairman of the Dare County Board of Commissioners, R.V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr. said he supported the idea of a $1,000 across-the-board increase in teacher supplements. That proposal is still under review.
``The incentive plan and the supplement are two separate issues,'' Holleman said.
Dare County's incentive proposal will measure teacher performance in 50 different areas, including attendance, scores on standardized end-of-grade testing in reading, mathematics, history and the sciences and college entrance exams.
Under the plan, each individual school will be held accountable for meeting those systemwide goals.
Along with student performance, teachers must:
Achieve a rating at or above standard on all areas measured by the state's performance appraisal system.
Complete 25 hours of approved professional development.
Complete computer training.
Teachers also must have on file a professional development plan, approved by both the principal and the teacher. At least one professional growth objective must be aimed at increasing student achievement.
In 1997, however, Dare County will be measured under the same standards as the ABC plan.
``We think the ABC plan will provide us with better data as far as tracking a student's progress,'' Holleman said. ``For example, now we measure the progress of this year's fourth-graders by comparing them to last year's fourth-grade class. Under the ABC plan . . . we will measure a fourth-grader's progress against what he did in the third grade. It will give us a more accurate measure of a student's progress.
``In grades 9 through 12, the ABC plan provides for pre-testing at the beginning of the school year, and end-of-grade testing at year's end.''
Last spring, during the county's budget process, many teachers criticized the idea of a merit pay system, saying that since the Dare County schools consistently ranked among the state's best, a raise was already deserved. Also, there was concern that any merit plan would be undermined by cronyism.
But Mike Finnegan, president of the Dare County Chapter of the North Carolina Association of Educators, said he is happy with the incentive plan. He said NCAE's focus will shift to the teacher supplement issue.
NCAE representatives and teachers from each of the county's schools have met with representatives of the commission and the school system to discuss the incentive plan. by CNB