Running head: PERFORMANCE-BASED PAY FOR TEACHERS 1

Nationwide Performance-Based Pay for Teachers

Parker Gray

Arizona State University

Nationwide Performance-Based Pay for Teachers

PERFORMANCE-BASED PAY FOR TEACHERS 2

This last year, I attended Corona del Sol High School in Tempe, Arizona, when

Arizona’s “RedForEd” movement began. This all began with teachers in the valley who believed

they deserved better pay for their jobs, and they had a reason to argue, ranking near the bottom in

most lists for teacher pay around the nation. My AP Government teacher, Mr. Malham, was my

favorite teacher while I was in high school, and he was an important leader in the movement at

my school. Before him, I wasn’t as aware of the problem. He lead the charge with

student/teacher marches as well as the teacher strike at my school. He gave me insight into a

problem that affects some of the most influential people in our country: the teachers.

In the United States, there has been an ongoing problem with teachers being underpaid.

This situation has also lead to a shortage in educators, which has also caused a poor selection of

teachers to choose from. When considering careers, it is not in the best interest of most to find a

low-paying job, so teaching simply isn’t desirable. This issue has also lead to recent strikes in

Arizona, West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and many other states. According to statistics

from TheBalanceCareers.com, the median salary of everyone with a Bachelor’s degree in the

United States is roughly $66,456 per year (Doyle, 2018). However, when you compare the

average annual salary for a teacher in the United States, it is much lower, coming in at

“approximately $55,000 per year” making an average difference of over $11,000 per year (“How

Much Money,” 2018).

This difference of over $11,000 is obviously an issue, and it gives insight into why

teachers believe that they deserve better pay. The pay that they receive makes their occupations

seem “below-average” or not as important to our nation. This is not true, and something needs to

be done to fix it, but efforts to change have already been made in the past. From 1991-2011, “the

spending on salaries per instructional staff member increased from $53,600 to $55,600, an
PERFORMANCE-BASED PAY FOR TEACHERS 3

increase of 4 percent” (“Instructional staff salary,” 2016). A 4% percent increase over 20 years is

very slow when you compare the national average over the same span, which was roughly a 14%

increase (“US Average Real Income by Year,” 2016). Even though salaries have slowly

increased over the years, it still has not been enough to lift educators up to the national average.

Because of this problem and no viable solution, the performance-based pay system is the best

option for this country and its teachers. While this system has already been introduced in some

states and districts, a nation-wide system would strongly benefit the United States, its teachers,

their students, and their schools, immensely.

When you compare one of the highest ranked education systems in the world (#2

according to The Independent), Switzerland is definitely performing better than the US, while

also paying teachers very high salaries as well. As previously stated, the US teacher average is

roughly $55,000, while “on average a Swiss state primary school teacher, after teaching for

around 10 years, earns US $100,000” (“Swiss primary school teachers,” 2016). This is good

evidence that higher pay in general has a positive effect on student success.

A performance-based pay system is self-explanatory. It is a structure where teachers are

graded off of a scale to evaluate their teaching, and it also takes into account student

performance. This “grade” that they receive determines pay raises and benefits for teachers,

which in turn incentivizes teachers to teach better and at a consistently high level. This system

has been implemented in states around the US, and throughout the world. In New York, it was

used and successfully showed that the approach benefitted students and their grades, while also

improving teacher salary. Likewise in Texas, “The Dallas Independent School District

implemented a districtwide accountability program that gave all teachers a small monetary

reward tied to schoolwide achievement to improve the performance of all the district’s schools…
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student achievement in Dallas increased relative to other districts in Texas” (Marsh, 2011).

However, in Michigan it was found that there was no increase in student achievement due to

increased teacher pay through incentives. Although this may make the approach seem wishy-

washy, it was later determined that the bonuses in Michigan were based off of student course

completion, and not student achievement, which caused teachers to settle for passing grades

(Marsh, 2011). This can easily be fixed by choosing benefits for teachers that are determined by

student achievement, as it will incentivize teachers to help their students go above and beyond.

Overall, this new approach would greatly benefit the country not only because of its

effort to increase teacher salaries through bonuses, but it would also have a positive effect on

student performance, which in the long-term would be incredibly beneficial for the United

States. While it does have a few cons, and does not work 100% of the time without flaws, there

is no “perfect” way to solve this problem. However, it is a better way, with few faults, and to

argue that it shouldn’t be used at all would be use of the Nirvana Fallacy.

The grading scale for the teachers “attempts to describe the full range of teacher

performance, from beginner to expert… [and] defines four performance domains: planning and

preparation, the classroom environment/classroom management, instruction, and professional

responsibilities” (Kuenzi, 2009). These four main topics would each be assessed on a point

system that determines whether or not a teacher receives a salary bonus, and also how much the

bonus would be. All of this would be determined by the score. The last aspect of a teacher’s

grade would be their students’ success. When looking at student success, the goal would not be

to reach a certain score or grade, but to have their grades improve or remain consistent with their

performance. For example, if one was already performing well, getting A’s in every class, the

goal would be to help one remain at this point.

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The approach would be fair to all teachers, but it would be difficult since “appropriately

evaluating individual performance is also complicated by the fact that so much performance is

affected by factors outside a worker's control, for example, whether or not necessary equipment

is in good working order” (Stedman, 2001). This idea would attempt to take into account the

different handicaps/privileges that certain teachers have, whether it be low funding from a

school, or working at a school that has previously performed well. This system would also have

multiple subsystems altering the grading for different stages of school, whether it be

kindergarten, middle school, or high school. These different scales would make sure each teacher

would receive a fair grade based off of who they are teaching (Kuenzi, 2009). While this may

seem like an obvious aspect in order for the system to be successful, there have been past scales

in this system that would be used for K-12, and the different scales would benefit each grade.

Reaching back to the point about handicaps/privileges, there have also been past systems

that seemed to only help teachers with said privileges, and hurt the teachers with worse

situations. For example, if a teacher was working in a bad area of town, with low funding, it

would seem unlikely that a teacher in this situation would be able to produce high student

achievement, so the new system would take these precedents into account (Stedman, 2001).

Overall, this idea would benefit the United States if it was implemented throughout the

whole country, improving national student scores, and teacher salaries, taking out two birds with

one stone. The problem with managing to put this plan into motion, however, is those who

believe teachers are already paid enough, and that nothing needs to be changed. While this is not

the primary argument, teachers are important. They are more important than their salaries

currently show. Teachers are important because they are the ones who teach the young people of

our nation, and the ones who have a giant impact on those students’ lives and futures. Without
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teachers, there is no reason that the United States would be a first-world country. Teachers

determine our country’s future, and they are the reason that our society is still a smart,

functioning one. They shape their students into adults, which is more than anything a salesperson

or an attorney does. While this isn’t a concrete, statistical reason, it is still a reason that is

valuable. The fact that teachers are over $11,000 below the national average for college-degree

salaries is pitiful, and there really needs to be a change. The system would incentivize these

teachers not only to work harder to receive these pay raises, and eventually reach the national

average, but it would also help improve student achievement all over the country. This system

produces positives, and it would be thoughtless to argue against it.

This problem in the US is a real one who affects many people deserving of a better

approach for their salaries. I’ve had many personal experiences with those struggling with this

issue, whether it be my teacher, Mr. Malham, or my mom who graduated with a major in special

education but was unable to pursue a career due to the problem. Even my sister, who is nearing

graduation with her degree in secondary education, but is second-guessing teaching because of

this as well, shows a clear problem that many fail to see. I know that this would solve many

problems in this nation, and make teachers, students, and parents all happier with the United

States’ education process.

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References

Doyle, Alison. (2018, August 14). Average Salary Information for US Workers. [Article].

The Balance Careers. Retrieved from: https://www.thebalancecareers.com/average-

salary-information-for-us-workers-2060808

No Author. (2017). How Much Money Does an Average Teacher Make a Year? [Data].

Top Education Degrees. Retrieved from:

https://www.topeducationdegrees.org/faq/how-much-money-does-an-average-teacher-

make-a-year/
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No Author. (2016). Instructional staff salary and benefits spending: 1991-2011. [Report]. .

. National Center for Education Statistics, Retrieved from:

https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/gpo84784/2016156.pdf

Kuenzi, Jeffrey J. (2009). Compensation Reform and Incentive Pay for Teachers. [Research

Article].

Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service, 12-18. Retrieved from:

https://congressional-proquest-com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/congressional/result/con

gressional/pqpdocumentview?accountid=4485&groupid=119060&pgId=ecffec51

-c032-43ba-83d2-cf7fd295b7a6#404

Marsh, Julie A. (2011). A Big Apple for Educators: New York City's Experiment with

Schoolwide Performance Bonuses: Final Evaluation Report. [Report].

RAND Corporation, 16-20. Retrieved from:

https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG1114.html

Stedman, J. & McCallion G. (2001). CRS Report for Congress; Performance-Based Pay for

Teachers. [Web Report].

Congressional Research Web Report, 3-10. Retrieved from:

https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1046&context=key_w

orkplace

No Author. (2016, January 12). Swiss fact: Swiss primary school teachers are world’s highest

paid. [Web Report].

Le News. Retrieved from:

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https://lenews.ch/2016/12/01/swiss-fact-swiss-primary-school-teachers-are-worlds-

highest-paid/

No Author. (2016). US Average Real Income by Year. [Web Chart/Data].

Multpl.com. Years 1991-2011. Retrieved from: http://www.multpl.com/us-average-real-

income/table/by-year