Much has been made about the face-off between teachers' unions and school reformers in places like Washington, D.C., where schools chancellor Michelle Rhee's efforts at reshaping the school system prompted stiff opposition from the union, including a campaign that helped unseat Mayor Adrian Fenty, who had appointed Rhee. In the wake of his defeat, Rhee later resigned.
But right down the road in Baltimore the teachers' union and the school district yesterday signed a new labor agreement that dramatically reshapes the way teachers are paid. The contract, the result of negotiations between the union and school system chief executive officer Andres Alonso, who served as deputy chancellor in New York City schools before moving to Baltimore in 2007, does away with the traditional formula for paying teachers based on years of service and graduate degrees earned. Instead, teachers' pay will be based on the educational progress students make over a year and teacher participation in additional programs like mentoring.
Baltimore teachers originally rejected the pact negotiated by their union, but then union leaders added details to the contract which spelled out how teachers would be evaluated, and in a re-vote teachers approved the pact by nearly a two-to-one vote. One incentive in the deal: teachers who reach the top of the pay scale through merit will be among the highest paid in the state of Maryland now.
But right down the road in Baltimore the teachers' union and the school district yesterday signed a new labor agreement that dramatically reshapes the way teachers are paid. The contract, the result of negotiations between the union and school system chief executive officer Andres Alonso, who served as deputy chancellor in New York City schools before moving to Baltimore in 2007, does away with the traditional formula for paying teachers based on years of service and graduate degrees earned. Instead, teachers' pay will be based on the educational progress students make over a year and teacher participation in additional programs like mentoring.
Baltimore teachers originally rejected the pact negotiated by their union, but then union leaders added details to the contract which spelled out how teachers would be evaluated, and in a re-vote teachers approved the pact by nearly a two-to-one vote. One incentive in the deal: teachers who reach the top of the pay scale through merit will be among the highest paid in the state of Maryland now.
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