NEA Teams With Virginia District on Salary Changes
By guest blogger Liana Heitin
In a vague press release, the National Education Association announced that it has linked up with the Alexandria public schools in Virginia to review the district's employee-compensation model, claiming this to be "a first of its kind partnership."
Superintendent Morton Sherman cleared things up for me in a phone interview, explaining that the partnership evolved from a casual conversation he had with NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. At the time, Sherman, who emphasizes that he is firmly against merit pay because there have been "too many failed experiments" with it, said he was "looking for other ways to move the salary schedule ahead." He found out that Van Roekel had instituted a career ladder while heading the Arizona Education Association and he proposed that the two team up. "How many superintendents have crossed the threshold at the president of the NEA's office to talk about compensation?" asked Sherman. "We had a good conversation and agreed to work together on shaping