A new Baltimore teachers鈥� contract, announced last week and headed to union members for a ratification vote this month, is being hailed as one of the most progressive in the nation.
It would link teachers鈥� pay, in part, to their students鈥� performance, and do away with 鈥渟tep鈥� increases that are based solely on years of experience and education. It also would enable educators to move quickly through the ranks, earn up to $100,800 a year, and give them more input on the working conditions in their schools.
City schools Chief Executive Officer Andr茅s A. Alonso described the contract as a 鈥渉uge, monumental shift鈥� for the district, noting that many of the stipulations are unprecedented in their focus on teacher effectiveness. 鈥淩ight now, teacher compensation has nothing to do with whether they are effective,鈥� Mr. Alonso said. If teachers are producing results in the classroom, they 鈥渟houldn鈥檛 be waiting years to reap the rewards for the work that they do.鈥�
Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, which represents Baltimore educators, called it 鈥渢he most professional contract I have seen.鈥�
Under the changes, the city would give its 6,000 teachers an automatic 2 percent pay increase in the first year of the contract, which would raise the starting salary for a teacher in the district to $46,774. Teachers also would get a $1,500 stipend for signing the contract, to be paid using the recently passed federal jobs bill.
In the second and third years, teachers could receive up to a 1 percent increase and a 1.5 percent raise, respectively. However, those increases would be based on student performance, teacher evaluations, and professional development.
The contract sets up four steps for teachers to attain: standard, professional, model, and leader. In three years, a teacher who becomes a lead teacher鈥攁nd there would be only one per building鈥攃ould earn up to $100,800, or about as much as a principal.
State schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick said she hopes other districts will adopt similar contracts.
