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Published Monday, February 08, 2010 in Local
Perdue says most teachers like pay based on performance
By Walter C. Jones
Morris News Service
ATLANTA – Gov. Sonny Perdue said Monday that most teachers like the idea of basing their pay on how well they teach and that the leaders of education organizations should listen more closely to their members.
Perdue made his comments to reporters the morning the performance-pay legislation, Senate Bill 386, was introduced by Sen. Don Balfour, R-Snellville. It provides the most details yet about a shift in teacher pay Perdue outlined last month.
Perdue's office sent a questionnaire to some teachers across the state, and he said he was surprised that 20,000 of them said they like his idea.
"The leaders, I don't think, sometimes don't want to listen to what their members are saying," he said.
In response to critics who say he drafted the bill in "relative secrecy" with the advice of few educators, the governor said now that the proposal is before the General Assembly that the public, including interested teachers, will have their chance to recommend changes through their local legislators.
"The way the process works, the legislature writes the laws. I provide a framework and an idea and a concept that I believe is good for education," he said.
One aim of the bill is to improve student performance by rewarding the educators who influence it the most. Under the proposal, teachers judged the most effective could earn as much as high school football coaches, according to Perdue.
Today, a teacher after 10 years earns about $48,000 compared to as much as $66,000 under his proposal, according to the state's application for the federal grant program Race to the Top.
Securing a share in the Race to the Top funds, an estimated $462 million, is a secondary goal of the performance-pay proposal, Perdue said.
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Jobama do not think for a second that you are azny better than Al Sharpton. The only difference is you want welfare for a different color of people. Sarah Palin is the closest thing that we have to a candidate that has our values. Is she a repub??/ Actually she may not be anymore.
Posted by not a socialist at 12:59 AM
Your a riot this is candid camera right. lollll Get out of the cubicle and see there is life outside of it. lollll
So you never anwsered why the tea party allowed a republican name Sarah Palin speak at there convention.
Posted by Joe Cool at 9:23 PM
I can take care of myself and I own a gun... tell me how that changes when we throw these freeloaders out on their behinds.
Posted by not a socialist at 5:31 PM
Actually, I am a liberal and an independent. Close the public schools if you like, but don't complain when crime skyrockets and our economy dives even further.
Posted by Peter Skrmetti at 10:47 AM
That last comment about Bush and obama just shows how clueless you are. Matter of fact I think I will call you Sonny the not a socialist.
Last if you could read I have never said I was a republican.
Posted by Joe Cool at 12:21 AM
There aint .02 cents worth of difference between Obama and Bush. They are both free spending, constitution destroying, Gilded elitists.
Posted by not a socialist at 9:36 PM
Oh so you're not a Republican when its convenient for you. Tell ya what how about you stop defending all of these social programs if you call yourself a conservative. Until then I will call you Joe Obama.
Posted by not a socialist at 9:21 PM
Nope wrong again I am a independent conservative.
Posted by Joe Cool at 8:16 PM
No Peter is talking about a big confusing governmental program that is only trying to fix a fundamentally flawed system. Tell ya what ole Sonny aint gonna be in office much longer and we have the chance to put forward a platform for privatized education. It isn't like we are going to fall much lower in the rankings. Joe Cool you aint a conservative you are a republican socialist. Go TEA Party!!
Posted by not a socialist at 6:45 PM
I am a conservative and I like your ideas. Peter also has a great idea. But SOnny want ever do it that way.
Posted by Joe Cool at 10:00 AM
Every danged one of you are on here supporting socialism. 1)Put in the voucher system. 2) Cut all state funding of public schools. 3) Give a tax incentive to start private schools. 4) Watch the private sector excel. Bubba and Joe cool what is wrong with you two! I thought you guys were conservatives!
Posted by not a socialist at 6:49 PM
What about the kids? Do they get sub-par education from their teachers who teach to the average and not the outliers? Education is important in every sense of the word...why do you think it costs more to live in Fayette than Coweta? Its got a lot to do with the school system. I say reward the top performers and bring everyone up to par. Does the bill give a livable base pay? Why not try to increase it?
Posted by unknown at 1:38 PM
How can you rate an instructor in a transient area like South Fulton or Clayton County on a scale similar to a teacher in a stable environment like Coweta or Fayette. A teacher that inherits a classroom with 40% of the students who have less than a year in the system cannot bring a 5th grader to parity with a student that has been through a system for 4 years. (NOT A TEACHER)
Posted by Captain Reality at 11:18 AM
It is very simple though not easy. Pay for Performance will only work when every student in every classroom statewide takes an honest, accurate pre-test and post-test every year. If the students progress one grade equivalent or more that school year, regardless of how poorly they scored on the pre-test, the teacher has succeeded. However, honest, accurate pre-tests and post-tests are unfortunately rare. Do not forget in the meantime that students have to actually show up and work, parents have to be involved, and politicians and administrators have to support the teachers with supplies, equipment, discipline, and training.
Posted by Peter Skrmetti at 11:01 AM
This is absolutely frustrating to read about. As a new graduate with a teaching degree it is basically impossible to find a teaching job in the state of Georgia and yet this is Sonny's main objective in education? I know plenty of eager new teachers wanting to be a "top performer" in a classroom without this so called pay raise but sadly cannot find a job. Sonny needs to worry about classroom size, hiring new teachers, and creating ways to boost Georgia’s Education standards before he even mentions this useless performance based salary that would end up being a popularity contest in the schools. He needs to remember MOST teachers do not go into this profession with the idea of becoming rich but to make a difference to children. He needs a wakeup call.
Posted by New Teacher at 2:08 AM
I think, he made that up. To date I have not talked to one teacher (here or in Texas) that liked the idea of performance based pay! There are so many factors in classrooms that teachers have no control over (i.e. a student's background or ability to learn), so why would they agree to a proposal that would come back to haunt them!
Posted by Dee at 1:07 AM
Stop grading the teachers, grade the parents. The system has been running some of the best teachers off. Guess they want to increase the quota. As a parent and a spouse of a teacher I know and have met a few.
Posted by Dewecheatem at 12:44 AM
Sonny has cut education funding every year that he has been in office. Now he's put out a survey which seems very dubious if you talk to actual educators and yet a lot of folks out there can't put the puzzle together. You want quality? Vote for a leader who also wants quality and will back up the teachers & school districts rather than take away and take away and take away.
Let's do some actual research to find the problem, not keep pointing fingers as though that were an effective measure.
Posted by Tchr at 9:44 PM
Since alot of students parents dont care or help their children, they go to school and dont want or care to get a education. Live off the Government are some's motto
Posted by Rob at 9:41 PM
What teachers received surveys?
Also Brian its obvious you have never taught. Teachers in georgia do not get to choose the students they teach.
Posted by Joe Cool at 8:57 PM
FIrst off the only teachers who like SOnnys idea are the ones who dont teach anymore and have administrative jobs and they are the ones who got the pay raises.
Posted by Bubba B Bad at 8:52 PM
Gerogia schools ranked 49th in education overall. Georgia teachers should have a lower pay rate than the 48 other states that have done a better job.
I support you on this one Sonny
Posted by Brian at 7:38 PM
Do most teachers like pay based on performance? I don't know if that's accurate. What am I to go by, the words of a Governor who has a bad track record with education. He only says the number of teachers who answered, "yes," and not the number that answered "no." In addition, how was the question framed, is his 20,000 actually agreeing with his exact statement, or with another question entirely? Most of the teachers I know, would not agree with it, so who are these people?
Posted by JH at 7:09 PM
I'm just curious. I don't know of any Coweta teachers who were fortunate enough to have their opinion solicited. Did anyone get this survey? Has anyone seen it at all? I seriously doubt anyone will be paid as a football coach is paid.
Posted by Still Waiting at 6:55 PM
I wonder what kinds of incentives were given for those teachers to agree to that ;)
Posted by Sharpsburg GAL at 6:53 PM
NOt sure who he's been talking to but not anyone I know. I am a teacher and I think it is a terrible idea. We do not get to pick our students and there are so many other factors involved in the learning process(ie. motivation, disablilities, home life, etc) that it is not fair to impliment this type of system. Administrators will give teachers they like "good" students and those they dislike "bad" ones. Worst Idea Ever!
Posted by Troy at 6:28 PM
Worst schools in the nation should have the lowest paid teachers,or can't they figure that out?
Posted by Yankee at 6:21 PM
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not a socialist
2/12/2010
Link To This Comment
You should your on comedy act. Call it the village idiot. I don't want welfare for anyone.
Posted by Joe Cool at 8:19 PM