Coalition considers alternatives

The heresy of one age becomes the orthodoxy of the next. —Helen Keller

The Santa Clarita Valley north of Los Angeles is described by real estate agents as a "land of rugged natural beauty." Among the educators there, some "rugged individualism" has also emerged: They're discussing the possibility of deviating from the status quo of the single salary schedule, and giving alternative compensation a whirl.

Those involved — chapter leaders, administrators, school board members and CTA staff — are only brainstorming at this time. But they say they are definitely open to the idea of piloting alternative compensation plans if they can find the funding.

Funding is a major sticking point because, to be sustainable, any alternative system would require adequate, permanent funding above and beyond what's currently available. Alternative systems are usually a combination of a base pay structure and ways to earn extra compensation.

At a minimum, CTA's Educational Change Workgroup is proposing that such a program be bargained, that teacher participation be kept strictly voluntary, that no one receive less compensation than under the existing system, and that there be no quotas or limits on the number of employees who might qualify for extra compensation.

Because there is no one-size-fits-all solution, districts in the valley may very well experiment with different strategies. They have looked at models in Denver, Toledo, Minneapolis and Helena, Mont., but say they are unlikely to adopt one in its entirety. Instead, they would fashion their own custom plan.

Stakeholders who call themselves a grassroots coalition recently gathered at the CTA office in Santa Clarita for a roundtable discussion. Attendees included leaders from four CTA chapters — the Saugus Teachers Association, Newhall Teachers Association, Castaic Teachers Association and the Hart District Teachers Association — plus administrators and school board members from five school districts.

They see themselves as partners in exploring educational change.

"We are the envy of other school districts because we have developed such a good working relationship," says Saugus Teachers Association President Joan Oxman. "This has given us our strength."

Their collaborative exploration of alternative compensation is an outgrowth of working together to pass local bond measures and implement Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) programs. Educators and administrators underwent PAR training together, attending regional and national meetings where they explored ways of providing assistance to colleagues, building partnerships within the education community and protecting funding for induction programs.

"We learned that the way we were doing things was not always the most effective way to recognize our changing teacher population and the changing attitude of the public toward public education," explains Hart District Teachers Association President Orval Garrison.

"We started focusing on the logical outcome of PAR — and that is student achievement," says Mike von Buelow, assistant superintendent of the Hart District. "And then we viewed an alternative pay scale as allowing us to focus on student achievement in a different way."

Many new teachers can't afford the price of housing in the Santa Clarita Valley, but might be able to do so under an alternative compensation plan. Such a plan might also attract teachers to hard-to-fill positions.

"There is a whole new generation coming into the system," says Garrison. "They don't have the same attitude toward the single salary schedule that we took such pride in developing decades ago. Many of them say they would stay in the district if there were a different salary schedule that rewarded them for tackling new projects."

"It might be a way to recognize teachers as professionals instead of just giving them $30-an-hour stipends that they incorporate into their salaries," says Newhall Teachers Association President Nancy Butler. "It would be similar to being a professional in a private company."

As for determining who qualifies for extra pay, CTA has some minimum requirements, among them objective and understandable criteria for evaluation — not student test scores — and equitable time to take advantage of professional development opportunities.

"If you only look at standardized test scores, teachers may never want to teach classes with English language learners," says Oxman.

Teachers must be given the means to opt out if they so desire, says Castaic Teachers Association President Krysti Wilson. "It will be attractive to some people. Others will be afraid of trying something new. And people who opted out one year may decide to join the following year. But it's important to give people a choice.

"Whatever happens, we must have teacher buy-in."