I live in one of those states where the governor decided to get really involved of the lives of teachers and attempt to integrate performance pay. The old pay scale was being done away with, and the new system would be phased in little by little. The way it would work was that in small increments, every single subject in school, including electives, would have an End-of-Course (EOC) exam attached to it, created by an independently contracted party, and how the students perform on said exam would influence the salary of the teacher, and eventually the continued employment of the teacher as well. But, you would be competing with other teachers, because there would only be so much money to go around. In practice, and handful of teachers would get most of the money, and the majority of teachers would never see any additional money to their base salary. The system would not take into account the level of the student (regular, advanced, gifted, learning disability) or any other factors.
Needless to say, this system failed. Most of the EOC's were cancelled, and the ones that are currently in place are questionable at best. Teachers no longer receive any bonuses, although individual schools, at least as of the writing of this piece, still possibly receive money for maintaining a high grade based on student performance on standardized tests. The problem is, that the pay scale which was previously in place was not brought back, and that has left teachers of my generation in a limbo in which their salaries can never increase.
Base salary for a starting teacher today is $40,500. But, there is currently no steps to increase that salary any further. In theory, if you started teaching today, you could end you last year of teaching thirty years from now making the exact same salary as you started with. There are extra things you can do, like taking a sixth period supplement, or getting a specialist degree, or coaching a sports team, that might make you some additional money, but the base salary doesn't change.
There are currently teachers from the old system of steps that are still active that are making double that base salary. I know this because I have lunch with one of them; a science teacher that has about twenty eight years in the system. He is at the highest salary step of the old system, plus has many of the additional benefits that I mentioned already, and makes gross pay of $87,000 a year. New teachers will never see this kind on money. Currently teaching in Miami Dade County, if you started within the last six years or so, you are stuck at a salary that will never increase.
I have ten years teaching experience. When I started, the step system was still in place. I received the first few steps, bringing my salary to about $42,000 a year. But I have not seen any increases in several years, nor are there any plans for any increases. So in essence, I go to work, teach my classes, attend meetings, attend workshops, make lesson plans, and grade papers, all exactly the same as some of my colleagues, but because they were around in the old system, some of them are making double my salary, whereas I can never hope to see more that $42,000 a year.
