Van Buren School Board OKs Merit Pay proposal for teachers

Although they weren’t very enthusiastic in their votes, on Monday members of the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education unanimously approved a Merit Pay program for teachers.
Shonta Langford-Green, the district’s Human Resources Director, was asked to prepare a Merit Pay proposal to keep the district in compliance with state law.
The Michigan Department of Education and the Legislature, as part of the recent school reform changes, had required implementation of a Merit Pay system as part of the teacher evaluation process no later than the 2013-14 school year.
Green said a lot of districts are not doing anything and just asking, “What’s the fine?” Other districts have put together Merit Pay at just $1 to comply.
Green said Curriculum Director Diane Kullis found that federal 2A funds are appropriate to use for Merit Pay and so Green put together a proposal to use $10,000 of those funds, hoping next year they can get similar funds.
The program asks teachers to nominate themselves and provide verification of their activities. They can get up to 700 points. A process has been worked out to calculate the worth of the points and how much Merit Pay the teachers who apply would get according to their scores out of the total $10,000.
The four categories include attendance (100 points), performance evaluations (500 points), activities above and beyond instructional responsibilities by attending or chairing meetings (50 points) and by serving as paid advisers and coaches to student activities (50 points).
Green said she combined ideas from different school districts. She had prepared a five-page proposal, but then was asked to get it down to just four categories, which she did.
“We’re hoping to see how this works out this year,” Green told the school board.
School Supt. Michael Van Tassel said the state’s idea was that this Merit Pay would reward those having a positive effect on improving students’ education.
Secretary Kevin English referred to a Vanderbilt University study that he said showed Merit Pay didn’t work.
English said the items in the district’s new Merit Pay categories, however, are all things good teachers do anyway.
“No one believes teachers would do all this for $10 or $20,” said board vice president Martha Toth. “They do this for other reasons.”
Supt. Van Tassel said it’s crystal clear that Merit Pay doesn’t work and is divisive among teachers in buildings and he isn’t in favor of it.
But, he said, it is a state requirement and as superintendent he promised to follow the law.
“I would prefer to pay all the teachers more… We have some incredibly talented teachers,” Van Tassel said.
“The law is the law and I plan to follow it,” he said.
Treasurer Sherry Frazier said some teachers may be insulted by the program and only a few may apply. She said rather than divide the $10,000 among ten teachers, she would rather divide the money among all the teachers. She pointed out some districts are thumbing their noses at the law.
Trustee Scott Russell said this program is not etched in stone and the district could learn from it.
“And maybe some district – maybe ours – comes up with something good. I hope a lot apply,” he said. “Sometimes no one will toot your own horn except yourself.”
“The premise behind it is faulty,” Toth stated, adding that the Vanderbilt study showed if you gave teachers a lot of money to raise the students’ scores, they couldn’t do it.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, the board:
• Heard a presentation from Principal Delria Crippen and five staff members of Edgemont Elementary School on all the things they are doing to improve education of the students;
• Approved the second reading and final approval of Board Policy Updates, most of which are state and federally mandated. The first reading and explanation was by Trustee Scott Russell on Jan. 13;
• Approved a new Advanced Placement World History course for juniors at Belleville High School for the 2014-15 school year;
• Approved attendance of three students at the March 21-23 Business Club State Leadership Conference in Grand Rapids. The three attending – Khersie Stalling, Verniece Lowe, and Amanda Parker – earned awards in regional competition;
• Approved hiring Allyson Romanowski as a teacher at McBride starting Dec. 9; and terminating occupational therapist Holly Foreman after one year of service as of Jan. 3, for resignation; Elise Harrison a teacher at Tyler for six years, as of Jan. 17 for resignation; and Staci Dombowski, a teacher at McBride for one year, as of Feb. 19 for relocation;
• Accepted the resignation of Angela Stroud, a secretary in the administration building, after 1.5 years of service, as of Feb. 28;
• Approved hiring Pamela Crawford as secretary in the administration building starting Dec. 16; Sandra Cartwright as accountant in the administration building as of Feb. 10; Sabrina Young, fringe benefits secretary in the administration building as of Feb. 17; and George Gibbons as a bus driver as of Dec. 9;
• Received certificates from State Rep. Dian Slavens recognizing School Board Month in January;
• Heard Toth give an update on legislative matters, particularly HB 5223 and 5224, concerning teacher and administrator evaluations. “The level of micromanagement coming down is unbelievable,” she said. Board president Brent Mikulski said legislative reports from Toth will be a standing agenda item;
• Heard Mikulski start to announce that BHS won an award, but then had to back off that because it is a secret until Friday. He wasn’t told it was a secret. It has to do with Granger Construction;
• Was reminded the next meeting is the work/study session at 7 p.m. Feb. 24 at the administration building, with the next regular meeting at 7 p.m. March 10 at the BHS Commons;
• Heard Frazier say she would like to discuss getting regular substitute teachers instead of getting subs from Detroit and other places the way they do it now. Green said the district already is looking into it and it would cost 31% more than the district is paying with the current system. Frazier said she would rather pay more. Van Tassel said Frazier’s concerns are well noted, but it is the choice of paying subs more or getting some of the money back to the teachers and he prefers the teachers; and
• Went into closed-door session to evaluate the superintendent.