Caledonia Argus

Pawlenty looking for ìsuperteachersî

Posted: 10/7/03

by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter

Top notch Minnesota elementary school teachers could earn up to $100,000 a year under a education proposal presented by Gov. Pawlenty on Wednesday, Oct. 1.

Itís ìturbocharged compensation,î said the governor.

Up to five elementary schools ó schools with large numbers of disadvantaged students ó will be selected as pilot sites for the ìsuperteacherî program.

ìBesides parents, teachers are the people who impact a studentís eduction the most,î said Pawlenty, speaking Wednesday at a press conference at a St. Paul charter school.

The superteacher initiative could cost up to $5 million a year ó Pawlenty plans to ask for funding in a supplemental budget next session.

Although the bonus pay would add luster to elementary school teacher salaries ó elementary teacher start in the $30,000 range ó selected superteachers would give up job security.

Schools would be able to hire or fire these exceptional educators regardless of tenure under the proposal.

Other performance pay initatives besides the governorís are in the works.

The state recently received a $7.8 million grant from the federal government and the Milken Foundation that will be used to fund teacher performance pay at seven pilot schools.

ìTheyíll be a good cache of data,î Education Commissioner Cheri Pierson Yecke of these performance pay programs.

New software allows the education department to track the yearly progress of students, Yecke said.

Pawlenty styled his education initiative as taken in the spirit of experimentation.

People should be willing to try everything within reason to improve the quality of schools, he explained.

Minnesotaís white schoolchildren are some of the best students in the country, Pawlenty said.

ìBut we also have one of the largest gaps between these students and students of color,î he said.

He called the low graduation rates recorded by students of color as a crisis the state can no longer look away from.

In addition to pay bonuses, the administration seeks to ease the transition into teaching for nontraditional teachers ó people whoíve worked in the private sector but whom are willing to take their expertise into the classroom.

About a third of all new teachers are nontraditional, said Yecke.

As for traditonal teacher training, the administration proposes to establish a report card for public and private colleges to grade their teaching training program.

Other initiatives to help retain teachers ó thereís a ìdisturbing patternî of young teachers leaving profession within short years, said Pawlenty ó includes a mentoring system and an online library of best practices lesson plans.

Beyond this, the administration also favors having school boards and districts assign teachers to schools and otherwise limit the shifting of teaching from classroom to classroom once school begins.

Education Minnesota, the stateís largest teachersí union, withheld judgement on the governorís initiative.

ìWeíre not even willing to say itís even workable at this point,î said Sandra Peterson, Education Minnesota vice president.

Peterson said the union currently lacks sufficient details about the proposal.

For instance, how would ìsuperteachersî be selected. How would their compensation be structured, she asked.

They do like the idea of higher teacher pay, she said.

The union will be better able to4 judge the proposal as the details are filled in, she said.

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