Performance Pay

The Dom Post reports:

Primary school teachers fearing a move toward performance pay have proposed an alternative plan.

God forbid that teacher’s performance have any impact on their pay packet. It is vital that the worst teachers be paid no less than the best teachers.

A draft NZEI claim suggested a “potential counter” to any proposal to move toward performance pay. Teachers had said they did not want performance pay.

“However, a skills-based pay model that can objectively identify exemplary teaching practice and provide additional remuneration has merit, and further developmental work on it should be done,” the draft claim said.

This may have some merit. Encouraging exemplary teaching practice is worthwhile. However it is unclear how it would work. Is it something that 99% of teachers would easily be able to claim they do, and hence qualify for the extra remuneration?

“This is very different to, and is potentially a counter to, any proposal to move towards performance pay.”

Any skills-based pay system would have to be objective, fair and rigorous and not based on student results, the draft claim said.

“It must not lead to competition amongst teachers.”

Basing pay purely on student results s stupid. But it is equally stupid to not take any account at all of student results. They should be one input into the remuneration.

My performance pay system is simple. Each principal is free to pay each teacher whatever they think they are worth, within an overall budget. In other words, just like almost every other sector of society.