Luna’s plan for ‘great teachers and leaders’: Restore pay cuts, add pay for performance

“Right now, the current system limits our ability to reward our great teachers and remove poor teachers,” state schools Supt. Tom Luna declared. “It’s in our children’s best interest to remove the barriers to both. Why? Because, again, we know that the most important factor is the quality of the teacher in the classroom.”

His plan: First, over several years, restore the teacher salary grid to full funding, which would mean reversing cuts made this year. Second, he’d restore the minimum teacher pay to $30,000 a year, which is where it was before the current budget cuts. Third, he’d implement a pay-for-performance plan, giving bonuses of between $2,000 and $8,000 to teachers and administrators who work in hard-to-fill positions, as determined by school districts; for taking on leadership positions, like mentoring new teachers or developing curriculum; or for working in schools that meet “student growth targets,” set on both a state and district level.