School board seeks 'a carrot'

The State Board of Education is approaching lawmakers for some solutions to the teacher shortage. A big part of it: more pay.

The board is seeking a $50 million bill to create a "Utah Educator Quality" plan that would offer differential teacher pay, require school bosses to stay up to date, and encourage people to become teachers and keep them in the profession.

The proposal, three years in the making, comes out of an Educator Quality Task Force of public and higher education officials, which offered such recommendations a year ago. It has been called the most comprehensive plan Utah has ever put forth on the issue.

"What's the purpose of the program? Make sure we see increased student performance," Deputy State Superintendent Ray Timothy said.

The Utah Education Association, an 18,000-member teachers union, is watching the issue but is reserving judgment — sort of.

"The best thing (the state) could do to attract and maintain quality teachers is a basic raise and reduced class size," UEA President Kim Campbell said. "If you reward teachers for knowledge and skills, the devil's in the details. We're watching it."

The State Board of Education is expected to further discuss the concept today.

About a third of new teachers leave the profession within the first three years, and half leave within five, state studies have shown.

Meanwhile, Utah enrollment is expected to increase by nearly 50 percent in the next two decades, and its teaching force is not expected to keep up. According to a 2003 Utah educator supply and demand study, Utah could see a shortage of 1,200 teachers a year. State education leaders have long lamented a Utah brain drain, where teachers educated here leave for higher pay in other states.

Timothy says the State Office of Education is talking to legislators to help turn the Educator Quality Task Force's recommendations into a bill for the 2007 Legislature.

For instance, districts and charter schools would develop a pay program rewarding teachers for various accomplishments, such as reading or lower-grade math endorsements, earning National Board Certification, or for improving student performance. Teachers also might receive bonuses or extra pay for teaching in tough-to-staff subjects or schools, or money for housing or moving expenses.

Also, districts would create plans requiring school bosses to keep training to ensure their skills can meet current demands of the field. Those plans would include re-licensing requirements.

Districts also would come up with ways to take a bite out of teacher shortages, such as by teacher mentoring programs and supporting people who want to switch over from their current careers to teaching through "Alternative Routes to Licensure."