by Jeff Achen
Thisweek Newspapers

It's been associated with the phrase "performance pay," but teachers union members and administrators in the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District want folks to know it's as much about creating a supportive environment for teachers as it is about teacher performance.

The Quality Compensations for Teachers (Q-Comp) program was introduced by Gov. Tim Pawlenty and enacted by the Minnesota Legislature in July 2005.

For over a year now, the district has assembled a committee made up of Dakota County United Educators union members and District 196 administrators to hash out the details of a Q-Comp program tailored to Minnesota's fourth largest school district.

Dakota Hills Middle School Principal Steve Troen said the committee has been able to iron out most of the concerns from both sides.

"I think that's due to the nature of the committee. It was a cooperative effort from day one," he said.

In order to garner state funding, the district must provide new opportunities for teachers to become master or mentor teachers full-time, continue staff development opportunities, change the current compensation system from pay based solely on years of service and education credits, and implement a comprehensive standards-based professional review system.

Jane Berenz is the director of federal and state rule implementation for District 196. She oversees Q-Comp and says that within the framework set forth under state legislation the committee has been able to develop a program that provides more time for teachers to observe other teachers and changes teacher evaluations to address what teachers need to improve practice.

Student performance data is also a component of the new teacher performance evaluation. She said their program also aims to provide even more support for teachers who are in the first three years of their career.

"The bigger component [of Q-Comp] is the support component," she said. "In the district, we already had the professional development components in place so [Q-Comp] wasn't a stretch. It does give our teachers more time to work with each other and aligns it more with student achievement. Student achievement is our indicator of success. But, even that has a number of variables."

Berenz agrees that the change to the teacher pay system currently in place is more of an evolution than a revolution. She said the state program is just giving the district the dollars to implement some things that they've wanted to do for a while now.

"There is recognition that there is much more that goes into a teacher than how many years they have and how much education they have. But, we don't want it to be a model where teachers are competing against one another. Time does make a difference. What we're saying is there are more things you can factor in," Berenz said. "It's really education reform at the classroom level."

Committee member, teacher and the teacher's union head negotiator Ken Nygren said he believes Q-Comp will meet the goals of improving teaching in the district as well as improving student performance.

"I think it is intimidating because teachers may not know what Q-Comp is until it's explained. The definition that we're using, it's not performance pay. What it looks at is taking from where you are to the next level of performance as a teacher. It's really a formative model, more formative than evaluative."

"We did not want to create a plan that would change the collaborative nature of District 196," committee member Ross Albertson said.

Albertson is an eighth-grade science teacher at Dakota Hills Middle School.

"Collaboration amongst the many great teachers in 196 is important and is good for our students. We didn't want to change that by making something that would create competition amongst teachers. Instead we feel that our plan will help enhance that collaboration, which is a win/win/win for all involved."

Timeline

The district had been waiting for the results of the MCA IIs before submitting their Q-Comp program application.

Berenz said they intend to submit their application to the state this month.

If approved, the state will provide $190 per student with the expectation that the district will levy $70 per student for a total of $260 per student in funding for teacher salaries and professional development.

It's not a voter-approved levy, but Berenz said the committee took a serious look at the impact of the levy to see that it's not raising the levy too much.

District Finance Director Jeff Solomon said citizens will have a chance to ask questions about the proposed 2007-08 School District budget at the Dec. 5 Truth in Taxation meeting. The budget includes $1.89 million for Q-Comp.

"In the big picture, it would've been an increase, but we reduced the taxes in other areas and the net tax didn't increase," Solomon said.

The amount is also spread out over more property in the district that has increased in value. Property owners won't see a property tax increase for the school district portion of their property taxes due to the program.

Future state funding has been set in place. State Q-Comp funding was structured as a categorical aid program which creates a permanent source of funding for districts once approved.

If the state approves District 196's application, members of the teacher's union will learn about the program details and get their chance to vote for or against it.

Nygren said the committee has modeled it in a way that he believes teachers will want to adopt it. Before it would begin being implemented in the fall of 2007, Berenz said there would be a lot of training to be done.

Nygren said he thinks it's a promising program and that when it comes down to it, all teachers want to be the best teachers that they can be.

Jeff Achen can be reached at av.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.