Research sheds light on impacts, perceptions of raising teacher pay – Carlsbad Current Argus

Sherry Robinson, All She Wrote Published 12:10 p.m. MT Jan. 13, 2020

Lawmakers and the governor want to give teachers another raise.

The Legislative Finance Committee has proposed a 3% pay raise for teachers and school personnel and more for bilingual and special education teachers. The governor proposed 4% increases for teachers.

Recently, House Speaker Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, called for a whopping 10% hike.

Last year, teachers and school administrators got 6% pay raises. That brought the three tiers to $40,000, $50,000, and $60,000 for fiscal 2020. The House Education Committee wanted $46,000, $56,000, and $66,000 but compromised in hopes of raising salaries this year.

Reformers say too much money went toward teacher salaries and not enough into programs that meet demands of the Yazzie-Martinez education lawsuit for more attention to at-risk students.

Still, one of the stumbling blocks in improving those programs is attracting qualified teachers, especially faced with high teacher vacancies around the state.

Research shines a light on several aspects of teacher compensation. Rewards can pay dividends for schools and students, and the way it's done makes a difference. Here are findings of studies in the last 10 years:

Then there's the debate, here and in other states, over how to reward teachers. Districts usually base salaries on longevity and education level, but some argue that this lumps good teachers in with mediocre teachers. However, attempts here by the last administration to give bonuses to good teachers ran into flak from teachers who say it's easier to look good if you're in a middle-class or affluent school where the students have every advantage. The unions have backed teachers up.

In 2011 a landmark law in Wisconsin limited the influence of teacher unions and allowed districts to change their pay schedules. Where districts abandoned seniority pay schedules and raised pay for their most effective teachers through "flexible pay" schedules, teachers increased their classroom efforts and test scores improved. Effective teachers left schools with seniority pay schedules and migrated to schools with flexible pay. This is according to the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2019.

Another piece of this debate is the reward itself. A 2017 study at Vanderbilt University found that bonuses, gifts and salary increases were linked to modestly improved test scores, and group incentives were more effective than individual incentives.

A 2018 study showed that short-term bonuses and college loan forgiveness programs helped retain teachers in jobs that were difficult to fill, and direct payments to teachers were more cost effective than loan forgiveness.

The governor and lawmakers will have to sell teacher raises to constituents, and one study produced a mixed result.

Although most people sympathize with teachers, two polls last year found that Americans who thought teachers were poorly paid weren't always well informed about what teachers really make. When people had current salary information for local teachers, they were less likely to support higher salaries, according to a survey for Education Next magazine. Most Americans, the study said, believe teachers earn a lot less than they actually do.

Many New Mexicans would consider a salary of $40,000 to $60,000 pretty darn good. And yet we can't ignore the positive impact of raises on teacher recruiting and the mandate of the lawsuit. Legislators will have to find the balance.

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Research sheds light on impacts, perceptions of raising teacher pay - Carlsbad Current Argus