By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

NEWARK, N.J. – It took a lot of arm-twisting, but the Newark Teachers Union has finally agreed to a new five-year contract that creates a merit pay plan for highly effective teachers.

NJSpotlight.com says the new contract is “a historic labor agreement … that will reshape pay and many rules for New Jersey’s largest district.”

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In addition to the pay-for-performance plan – which could result in $5,000 bonuses for teachers – the contract provides educators with an average pay raise of 13 percent over the next three years, as well as bonuses for working in a low-performing school ($5,000) and for teaching hard-to-fill subjects such as science and math ($2,500).

Most Americans would be turning cartwheels in celebration over such a deal, but a large NTU contingency isn’t happy with the agreement. Thirty-eight percent of union members voted against the deal. They simply can’t accept the idea that some teachers are better at their jobs than others.

In union-land, all teachers are the same and should be paid the same; they’re interchangeable cogs in the school machine (or something like that).

Amazingly, some NTU members sort of like the idea of being recognized for doing their jobs well.

“I think (the performance pay plan) is something that should be tried,” school psychologist Rosemary Taylor told the news site. “I think people are worried about who will be judging them, will they be judged fairly. I just trust enough to say let’s try it. Nothing is set in cement.”

Ah, and there’s the rub: “Nothing is set in cement.”

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As much as reformers should like this merit pay plan, it comes with a big red flag. The new contract allows the union to help craft the evaluation process. According to NJSpotmilght.com, teachers will be “part of the actual evaluation teams,” and there will be “checks and balances for monitoring the results and providing a process for appeals.”

Translation: The union will do everything it can to ensure that most teachers pass their evaluation with flying colors and qualify for merit pay. That means the evaluation process might become like those slot machines that are programmed to be “hot.” More winners! Bigger jackpots!

Still, a merit pay plan in union-controlled New Jersey is a big deal. It will help establish performance pay as a mainstream, common sense idea (which it is), and it’ll make it easier for other districts and other states to pass their own such plans.