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ERC Committee Discusses Teacher Pay and Continued Funding for T & E
On July 21st, the Teacher Recruitment, Retention & Compensation Committee (TRR&C Committee) of the Governor's Education Reform Commission met to discuss issues surrounding educator compensation.
Several members of the committee mentioned teacher training and experience (T & E), and both the committee members and committee staff expressed a desire to continue state funding for educator T & E for existing Georgia educators under any funding model that the ERC ultimately recommends.
ERC Chair Dr. Charles Knapp, who was also present, explained that issues like teacher compensation may overlap between the Funding Committee of the ERC and the TRR&C Committee. The last meeting of the Funding Committee focused in large part on educator compensation and T & E. [Editor's note: Review T & E memoranda from Funding Committee member and House Appropriations Chair Terry England HERE and Governor's Office of Planning and Budget T & E recommendations HERE.]
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Compensation Principles Emerge - Recruitment & Retention Discussed
TRR&C Committee members engaged in developing a set of employee compensation principles, and Dr. Knapp mentioned that more detailed compensation models would be developed by the Georgia Department of Education and adopted by local school districts.
Some of the teacher compensation principles which emerged from committee discussion included:
- Providing clarity to current educators that they will continue to be compensated under current the T & E scale
- Discouraging advanced degrees as the primary generator of educator compensation for future educators
- Attracting new educators to the profession by raising starting salaries
- Providing avenues for future educators to raise their salaries more quickly
- Allowing differentiated pay for high-needs areas
- Considering service-cancellable loans
- Encouraging or requiring teacher compensation programs to incorporate a year of clinical practice
- Improving teacher mentorship by providing mentors with additional compensation
- Encouraging principals to protect teacher planning time
- Considering a "moratorium" on new legislative mandates which intrude on classroom teachers or possibly reviewing or sun-setting existing intrusions
- Reimbursing Georgia educators who successfully pass the GACE
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What's next for TRR&C Committee & Teacher Pay?
The committee agreed to present their discussion at the next full ERC meeting, scheduled for Tuesday July 28th.
The TRR&C Committee also tentatively set its next meeting for August 24 and indicated a desire to discuss teacher retirement in more depth. TRS Executive Director Jeff Ezell was mentioned as a potential presenter.
Educators and stakeholders are encouraged to provide feedback to the ERC now.
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