NC may start new teacher pay pilot this fall. Here’s what it would take to implement.
North Carolina education leaders hope to win legislative approval to begin piloting this fall a new program that pays teachers based on their performance instead of on their years of experience.
The State Board of Education and State Superintendent Catherine Truitt want to recruit school districts to test a new performance-pay model for teachers. State board Chairman Eric Davis said Wednesday that they will ask the General Assembly to let them start the pilot at the start of the 2023-24 school year.
“We’re trying to move as aggressively as we can because our students and teachers sorely need these improvements and benefits,” Davis said at Wednesday’s board meeting. “But it’s complex so we also need to be thoughtful about how fast we generate the changes.”
Davis said he’d expect any pilot program would run for at least two years before seeking legislative approval to make it a statewide effort. It’s not been determined which districts would join the pilot if legislative approval is given.
Districts not in the pilot would continue to use the current experience-based teacher pay model.
The state board is contending with opposition from groups such as the North Carolina Association of Educators, which says the model will drive teachers away instead of encouraging more to enter the profession.
Legislative approval needed
The state board wants the Professional Educator Preparation and Standards Commission (PEPSC) to make recommendations by March on what legislative, rule and policy changes would be needed to operate a pilot.
PEPSC has been working on a draft model that would require teachers to demonstrate their effectiveness to get higher pay. Effectiveness would be based on student growth on state tests, reviews by their principal, student surveys or other measures that would be developed.
State board attorney Allison Schafer laid out Wednesday some of the legislative changes that would be needed to start a pilot, including:
▪ Permission for pilot school districts to be exempt from teacher licensure requirements that are in state law.
▪ Permission to create new teacher licensure categories such as an apprentice license.
▪ Permission to not follow the current teacher pay schedules..
▪ Additional funding to carry out the new pay model.
This story was originally published January 4, 2023 at 4:56 PM with the headline "NC may start new teacher pay pilot this fall. Here’s what it would take to implement.."
