McDonnell proposes merit-pay fund for teachers

By ZINIE CHEN SAMPSON

RICHMOND

Districts that have underperforming schools would be able to compete for $3 million to fund teacher performance-pay awards under a proposal advanced by Gov. Bob McDonnell.

McDonnell said at a news conference Tuesday that the pilot program, part of his budget amendments, would award incentives of up to $5,000 to teachers in about 190 so-called hard-to-staff schools. Those would include schools at risk of losing state accreditation and those that have a high number of English learners or have a high percentage of special-needs students.

McDonnell also was joined by legislators to promote a bill that would establish a tax-credit program for corporations that donate cash to nonprofit groups that provide private-school scholarships to needy students.

The performance-pay initiative would be a way to attract good teachers to struggling schools and help them improve student performance, McDonnell said. If the General Assembly appropriates the funds, school boards can choose whether to apply for the money by June 15.

The Virginia Department of Education is revising the state's guidelines and uniform performance evaluation standards for teachers, so that such a system can be used to determine performance pay if school divisions decide to participate, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia Wright said.

Critics of such merit-play plans, including the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, say they're concerned that such new initiatives would only benefit a few teachers, rather than increase overall school-employee compensation.

Gloucester County Superintendent Howard "Ben" Kiser said Tuesday that offering financial incentives to a handful of teachers hasn't been proven as a successful school-improvement strategy. "The idea that one teacher can be isolated and accurately linked to a single child's success is flawed," Kiser, VASS secretary, said at a news conference.

The corporate scholarship measure would provide tax credits to companies that donate cash to nonprofit organizations that provide private-school scholarships to low-income students. Under the bill, the businesses would get credits worth 70 percent of the donation amount and could be carried forward or back 15 years.

The state would be allowed to issue up to $25 million in tax credits each fiscal year and each student would get an average award of $4,500, Del. Jimmie Massie said of his bill, which is similar to a plan that Florida legislators passed about a decade ago. About 30,000 students in Florida attend private schools under the scholarship plan and a handful of other states have similar arrangements.

Massie, R-Henrico, and other school-choice backers said the legislation would allow low-income students who might benefit from a private-school education to reach their full potential.

The Family Foundation said McDonnell's support for the bill puts the state "one step closer to meeting the goal of true education freedom for Virginia's children."

The state Department of Planning and Budget is working to determine the program's potential fiscal impact, McDonnell spokeswoman Taylor Thornley said.

Virginia Education Association President Kitty Boitnott questioned whether the plan would be sustainable and whether it would have a negative impact on state finances. Also, she said, the $4,500 awards might not fully cover tuitions, which can be more than double or triple that amount.

She said the measure attempts to gain traction for private-school vouchers by "dress(ing) it up as a way to help poor kids."

The superintendents' group said Tuesday that the governor's budget amendments reflect a continuing disinvestment in public education at a time when Virginia needs to be competitive in a global economy.

McDonnell last month recommended that state take $57.6 million given to school divisions last year to compensate for changes in the state funding formula and spend more than $53 million of it to fund teacher pensions. Also, teachers and other employees covered by the Virginia Retirement System would have to contribute 5 percent of their pretax salaries to their pensions, starting next year. Teachers aren't classified as state employees, so they wouldn't get a proposed 3 percent state-employee raise.