Pittsburgh Teachers Approve Merit-Pay Contract

[femmocrat]

Pittsburgh teachers ratify contract
Monday, June 14, 2010

By Karamagi Rujumba, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh Public Schools teachers this afternoon approved a five-year collective bargaining agreement that has a two-tier pay scale as the foundation of a merit-pay model of evaluation and compensation for teachers in the city schools.

The teachers ratified the contract-- which provides about $33.3 million in total pay increases from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2015-- by a vote of 1,169 to 537, said John Tarka, president of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers.

According to the contract, the district's approximately 2,900 teachers will remain on a traditional 10-step salary schedule in which their pay increases happen automatically every year.

All new teachers, however,-- hired after July 1-- will enter the district on a new pay scale that essentially changes the time needed to attain tenure from three years to four years and also pegs their compensation directly to how well they perform in the classroom.



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10165/1065569-100.stm#ixzz0qsqyy3QD

[MichiganVote]

1. Teacher shortage in 5-4-3-2-1...

[femmocrat]

2. My first thought..... "It's here......."

I just heard this on the local news and found the article in the P-G.

Makes me :scared: . If it has taken root in a traditionally strong union town like Pittsburgh, it won't be long before it starts to appear in contracts in other PA school districts.

Look out, fellow educators.

[MichiganVote]

3. Coming soon to the nearest drama club..er..legislature near you.