Metro Merit Pay Proposal Back to the Drawing Board

Negotiations between Metro Schools officials and the teacher’s union over a new merit-based pay plan have fallen apart. The state has mandated that every school district in the state try out some kind of pay incentive for teachers next year, but offered little other guidance.

A proposal from a committee named by the Metro school board would have offered recruitment and retention bonuses at three schools that have had difficulty meeting federal benchmarks. Those are Maplewood and Hillwood High Schools, and Jere Baxter Middle.

Gene Foster is the human resources director for high schools in Metro. He also sits on the committee. Foster says some school board members wanted something that paid teachers based on performance, meaning student achievement.

“Couple of members contacted me personally and said they had concerns that there was not a performance component. But, of course, the plan had not even gone to them for approval or for a vote.”

Foster would not name the school board members. The plan hasn’t come up for a vote. In fact, it’s back to the drawing board. Foster says it will be hard to get the administration and the Metro Nashville Education Association to ever agree on a “performance-based” incentive plan. The two sides have trouble finding a fair way to judge teacher performance in the classroom.