Districts debate merits of master's for teachers
By JAMIE STENGLE, Associated Press
Updated 10:35 am, Saturday, July 12, 2014
People gather outside the North Carolina General Assembly in Raleigh, NC during summer 2013 to protest the elimination of tenure and extra pay for teachers with advanced degrees in the state. Efforts to eliminate extra pay for teachers who earn advanced degrees are gaining momentum in a small but growing number of U.S. schools. Among issues related to teacher pay that legislators are debating this summer include reinstating the extra pay for those teaching in the subject in which they got their advanced degree. Photo: NCPolicyWatch.com, AP
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FontDALLAS (AP) — Efforts to eliminate extra pay for teachers who earn advanced degrees are gaining momentum in a small but growing number of U.S. schools, stirring a national debate about how best to compensate quality educators and angering teachers who say the extra training is valuable.
More than half of the nation's teachers have master's degrees or higher, but the changing salary structure is giving pause to others considering the same path. Texas' two largest school districts, in Houston and Dallas, recently eliminated advanced degree pay going forward, following the example of North Carolina, where lawmakers last year started phasing it out. A few other states have made tweaks to reduce how much advanced degrees factor into pay.
"They're trying to say there's no value at all for a teacher going back to increase their knowledge," said Rena Honea, president of Alliance-AFT, which represents Dallas Independent School District employees. "Just by having the additional knowledge in their content area gives them more tools in their toolbox to be able to reach the different types of learners that are in the classroom."
Those championing dropping the extra pay say advanced degrees don't necessarily translate into better student test scores. They say the money is better spent elsewhere, such as on rewarding teachers deemed most effective in the classroom.
"Effectiveness is more based on results rather than any checklist of things," said Dallas Superintendent Mike Miles, who implemented a pay-for-performance system in the Districts debate merits of master's for teachers - SFGate: