Luna’s teacher bonus pay proposal scrapped

Wed., Feb. 13, 2008

Associated Press The Spokesman-Review

BOISE – Lawmakers and public schools chief Tom Luna have dumped the most controversial part of a pay-for-performance plan for Idaho’s teachers.

During a roughly half-hour meeting Tuesday involving Luna and leaders of both the House and Senate, the participants agreed to abandon the “category 4 contracts” that foresaw teachers giving up existing job protections to qualify for some bonuses.

Now Luna is crafting a new package whose merit provisions include paying teachers more if their students show improved academic performance and giving more money to educators qualified to teach subjects that are in great demand.

Idaho schools would also develop new teacher performance assessments to better monitor educational quality, according to elements of the revamped proposal outlined by lawmakers to the Associated Press.

“The category 4 issue is not going anywhere this year,” said Rep. Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, one of the original proponents of a plan that linked teacher accountability to better pay.

At legislative hearings this year, the Idaho Education Association teachers union complained to lawmakers that the new contracts could expose teachers to arbitrary firings by school boards or administrators.

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