ERC Teacher Committee Meets, Teacher Retirement Not on Agenda
The Teacher Recruitment, Retention, and Compensation (TRR&C) committee of the Governor's Education Reform Commission met Monday, August 24. At the last TRR&C meeting, committee members expressed interest in learning more about the GA Teachers Retirement System and its role in educator recruitment and retention and tacitly set the next TRR&C agenda to include discussion of educator retirement benefits. Today's agenda did not include reference to teacher retirement, and the issue was not discussed.
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Teacher Induction Focus
At the committee's invitation, Dr. Karen Wyler from the GaDOE spoke at length about Georgia's teacher induction process. Her entire presentation to the TRR&C is available HERE. Supporting information describing Georgia's induction process is also available HERE, HERE and HERE. Dr. Wyler stressed the distinction between teacher induction and quality mentoring of teachers and described Georgia's "educational landscape" with regard to induction.
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TRR&C Recs Take Shape
After Dr. Wyler's presentation, TRR&C members engaged in a robust conversation regarding raising minimum salaries for beginning Georgia educators. The current entry level base pay for Georgia teachers is approximately $34k, and most committee members expressed desire to lift base pay to around $40k.
On the morning after the TRR&C meeting, the full ERC met to hear reports from each ERC committee. TRR&C's recommendations on 08/25/2015, which provide a summary of TRR&C conversation at the TRR&C meeting on 08/24/2015, include:
Teacher recruitment enhancements:
- Service Cancellable Loans for USG graduates who stay to teach in Georgia
- Full year clinical practice model for our colleges instead of 1/2 year student teaching
- Replace time in the degree, not add!
- Compensate teachers well for supervising college interns
- State funding for or refunds GACE exit exam from college
- Increase entry level salary
- Signing bonuses for tough fields
- Adopt / continue strong mentoring programs
Teacher retention:
- Consistent and continued mentoring of new teachers
- Protected planning time
- Return to "normal" on the curricula change cycle
- Slowdown / stop of "new things" piled onto teachers legislatively or by SBOE rule
- Find extra burdensome things to repeal, sunset new "things" we put into education
Notably, two TRR&C slides at the full ERC were dedicated to compensation. CLICK HERE to view the entire slideshow from the ERC meeting on August 25th.  
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Teacher Compensation Focus of
Next TRR&C Meeting Sept 17
At the conclusion of the meeting, several active and retired educators addressed the TRR&C members, a first for the committee. A kindergarten teacher from Coweta County described in compelling detail her commitment to and the challenges of serving students at her Title I school. Stressing her discomfort with teacher compensation models proposed by the ERC which incorporate pay-for-performance, the educator described her recent conflicted feelings when parents of two of her students from the 2014-2015 school year who were retained requested assignment to her classroom for the 2015-2016 school year. She characterized her reluctance at this request as fleeting but the impact on her performance evaluation as lasting. "Teachers and students are more than a test score," she said.
TRR&C chair Pam Williams told the committee that she intends that they "look at the meat" of the teacher compensation models when the TRR&C reconvenes on September 17th from 10am-2pm.
Educators and other stakeholders are strongly encouraged to contact the ERC to provide feedback now at erc@opb.georgia.gov. As always, please remember to contact policymakers using non-school email accounts outside of instructional time.
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Margaret Ciccarelli - Director of Legislative Affairs
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