Contract secures alternate teacher pay through 2013

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A new contract between School District 833 and the United Teachers of South Washington County union will continue an alternate pay system through 2013.

In the program, teachers do not get raises based on the number of years they've been teaching. Instead, the same raises are granted to teachers who successfully participate in job performance reviews.

By agreeing to do away with longevity, the district receives from the state $169 per student to implement the Alternate Teachers' Professional Pay System (ATPPS), also referred to as Quality Compensation System or “Q-Comp.”

ATPPS, entering its fifth year, also allows teachers to be paid for three days of professional development during which teachers set reading and math proficiency goals for their buildings, based on annual Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment test results.

Teachers are paid for making progress or achieving building goals as well as individual classroom goals.

This past year, 57 percent of buildings achieved goals set for students, said Tim Bunnell, ATPPS coordinator, up from 47 percent last year.

The new ATPPS contract is similar to previous ones with two exceptions. If a building does not meet the set goal, half of the money that would have gone to teachers will be used for increased staff development.

The teachers contract wording has also been changed from “advance of the salary schedule” to “receive increased compensation based on their annual performance increment scale.” The wording change further imbeds a pay system based on performance reviews.

Even if the legislature were to strip the program funding, the performance pay system may continue in some form.

ATPPS is becoming “more and more intertwined with school improvement programs,” District 833 Superintendent Mark Porter said.

A typical teacher earns approximately an additional $1,500 a year under ATPPS, according to Bunnell.

More than 500 district teachers, who receive formal training, are qualified to do the required three peer reviews of teachers each year using a standardized form. Peer reviewers, or coaches, receive $50 for each review that requires them to meet with a teacher, conduct the evaluation in the classroom, and meet with the teacher again to discuss the findings.

Mentors or coaches earn $1,000 a year if they agree to mentor a first-year or probationary teacher for a minimum of 40 hours during the school year.

Six full-time and one half-time teacher, on leave from classroom responsibilities to become achievement specialists, are assigned to collect, interpret and evaluate testing data for each building and help teachers achieve personal and building achievement goals.

Forty-five teachers earn $1,000 as on-site data coordinators who also work with achievement specialists.

One teacher per building site earns $562.50 to document and prepare staff development documents for the Minnesota Department of Education. Two teachers in each elementary school get the same amount to help teachers with curriculum and teaching strategies.

One teacher per building site earns the same amount as a coordinator to help teachers understand ATPPS requirements, collect data and set up professional development days.

Teachers are asking for changes in the current observation and evaluation model, Bunnell said, to add more detail. The development of a new form has been approved by the state education department, he said.

Tags: district 833, updates, news, education, money