Offer Matawan-Aberdeen Teachers a Choice

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” – Albert Einstein

The Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School Board is presently negotiating a 3-year employment contract with the Matawan Regional Teachers Association. The proposed contract explicitly forbids the school district from offering personal contracts to any teacher even if the teacher would profit from such a contract. That provision needs to be amended to allow teachers the option to either accept the Teachers Association employment contract or a personal employment contract.

Below is a proposal for an alternative teacher’s contract. Those teachers earning over $80,000 a year with full health benefits for handling a 5-course load would never accept such a contract. However, for those teaching less than 10 years (which comprise half the faculty), such a contract may be attractive. They would have the opportunity to earn substantially more money and, in the process, both raise student performance and save the school district a bundle of money.

I propose the following 3-year contract -

For teaching 6 daily periods, a teacher shall earn the following:
Base salary of $40,000
Annual 2% base salary increase
$5,000 base salary increase for each 5 years of experience
Blue Cross / Blue Shield National PPO with $2,000 deductible
$2,000 contribution to teacher’s Health Savings Account
401K with double matching contributions (maxing at 10% of salary)
Performance bonus
Departmental bonus pool
Any teacher performing in the bottom five percent of the school may be dismissed, at the principal’s and superintendent’s discretion, for just cause.

Performance Bonus:
$40 for each student
$1 for each point for each student scoring above 70% on the standardized 1st semester exam (maximum - $30 per student)
$1 for each point for each student scoring above 70% on the standardized 2nd semester exam (maximum - $30 per student)
$2 for each point for each student scoring above 70% on the standardized final exam (maximum - $60 per student)
$2 for each point for each student scoring above his prior year’s score in a comparable class on the standardized 1st semester exam (maximum - $60 per student)
$2 for each point for each student scoring above his prior year’s score in a comparable class on the standardized 2nd semester exam (maximum - $60 per student)
$4 for each point for each student scoring above his prior year’s score in a comparable class on the standardized final exam (maximum - $120 per student)

(In summary: For each student - $40 + $10/point above 70% + $20/point of improvement with double points for final exams.)

Departmental Bonus Pool:
A bonus shall be awarded to each department that spends less than budgeted. 20% of the difference shall be disbursed to those participating in the bonus pool. 40% of the difference shall be deposited into the department’s “special projects” account and used at the department’s discretion (with administration approval) for educational projects.

Although the school district would continue to pay for graduate coursework, we would no longer reward advanced degrees but only performance. Additionally, students should be annually assessed using international assessment tests to assure a correlation between our standardized exams and global standards.

Furthermore, students would have the limited ability to choose their teachers. Administrators would try to accommodate all student requests while still considering class size. Those teachers in higher demand would thereby earn larger bonuses than those teachers in low demand.

As an example, let’s look at a teacher with 7 years of experience who holds a masters degree plus 30 credits. Under the current system, he would earn about $52,000.

Using the proposed bonus system, a teacher working 6 periods would have about 100 students and likely average $120 bonus dollars for each student (potentially much more). Using a base of $40,000 + $5,000 for each 5 years of experience + $12,000 in bonuses (not including the departmental bonus pool) equals $57,000. Better teachers with the same level of experience would earn over $60,000 from a combination of larger class sizes and higher average student bonuses.

In exchange, that same teacher would be required to teach one extra-period a day and have greater exposure to being fired for poor performance.

Despite the higher pay, the district would reap huge financial savings. Having teachers instruct 6 periods instead of 5 would reduce the faculty payroll by 15%. Additionally, we’d likely have far fewer students requiring special instruction as teachers would have greater incentives to help these students improve.

The above proposal would be quite alluring to those who have less than 10 years of experience. Since these are personal employment contracts, separate contracts, using a similar bonus system, could be crafted for more experienced teachers.

Teachers would always have a choice of selecting from the personal employment contract or the union contract. Since there’s no one-size-fits-all employment contract, the school district could negotiate individual contracts for specific situations.

If the Teachers Association wants their members to participate in bonus plans as well, they can negotiate those terms with the school board.

Naturally, many of these provisions would require waivers from the state legislature (such as moving teachers to a 401K or a national PPO and implementing health savings accounts) but teacher bonuses do not require waivers. Additionally, these incentive plans could be extended to the administration and staff.

Reasonable people can dispute which contract offers better terms – mine or the Teachers Association’s. All I ask is that each teacher be allowed to choose for himself. >>> Read more!