ProComp, Professional Compensation System

April 18, 2003

A bold new teacher compensation system for teachers in the Denver Public Schools was unveiled today. The new compensation system would reward teachers for improving student achievement, receiving successful performance evaluations, working in the most academically needy schools and improving their skills and knowledge. In the new system, teachers would exchange guaranteed annual increases based on experience for the opportunity to achieve higher salaries earlier in their career based on performance.

Elaine Gantz Berman, president of the Board of Education, said, "The norm in the United States is for teachers to get automatic increases for years of service regardless of their performance in the classroom. This draft recommendation totally shifts the focus to factors that improve student achievement. If implemented, it would make Denver the place teachers would want to work because the rewards would be so great."

The draft recommendation was developed by the Denver Public Schools - Denver Classroom Teachers Association Joint Task Force on Teacher Compensation.

The Joint Task Force on Teacher Compensation is a collaborative committee composed of 12 representatives from DPS, DCTA and the community. The group has been working since fall 2001 to craft the elements of a new professional compensation system for Denver’s 4,500 teachers.

Eli Broad, Founder of the Broad Foundation commented, "It is a great step forward for children when a public school system builds student performance gains into the teacher salary structure. I hope other K-12 public school districts will take notice and learn from Denver’s ambitious and thoughtful work on behalf of urban school children." The Broad Foundation works to improve K-12 public education through governance, management, and labor relations.

The proposal is a draft that will be revised in the fall after a period of comment from teachers, administrators and the community. Becky Wissink, DCTA president, said, "The draft recommendation is not the final product. We have a lot of work to do before we have something to present to DCTA members for a vote." A final version of the proposal will be released in November and will be used as a starting point for collective bargaining in 2004. Teachers and the Board of Education will vote on the bargained proposal on March 19, 2004.

The proposal features four distinctions from the current salary system:

1. Teachers who meet and exceed rigorous expectations in a fair system will haveuncapped annual and career earnings.

2. The district will pay annual and sustained bonuses for demonstrated student growth. It would eliminate guaranteed increases for years of service.

3. Teachers can receive salary increases and bonuses for demonstrated acquisition of additional knowledge and skills related to student growth and their instructional discipline.

4. The district will offer incentives to teachers of demonstrated accomplishment who choose to work in schools and teaching assignments with high teacher turnover and a poor track record of student growth.

Jerry Wartgow, superintendent of Denver Public Schools, commented, "In a very direct way, this recommendation links teacher salaries to the district’s goal of increasing student learning. The draft recommendation achieves a balance between opportunity and accountability that the current system is unable to do with its rigid elements. If ultimately adopted by both parties, such a system would enable DPS to better fulfill its instructional mission by leading Colorado in overall teacher compensation." He added,

"We are grateful for the continued support of The Broad Foundation. Their grant to us of $1 million helped to make this effort possible."

Under the current system, teachers are paid annual increases each year through the first 13 years of service, and then receive longevity increases after 15 years of service and after every five subsequent years of service. They also receive increases for completing 30 hours of graduate credit or advanced degrees, as well as hourly compensation for DPS professional development. Additional pay can be earned for taking on assignments such as coaching.

"The draft recommendation is a bold step in teacher compensation unlike anything else in the nation," Wissink added. "The school district and DCTA created this system together because we want teacher compensation to lead to improved student learning. DCTA has been on the vanguard of labor-management collaboration and education reform. We appreciate the support of the National Education Association and the Teacher Union Reform Network as we have explored these issues."

The draft recommendation was developed, in part, from insights and learnings from the DPS-DCTA Pay for Performance Pilot. This four-year pilot investigated the links between teaching, assessing student growth and teacher compensation. The Community Training and Assistance Center of Boston has studied pilot practices and their effects on student achievement as well as attitudes of teachers and administrators in the 16 pilot schools. CTAC issued an interim report in December 2001 and will issue a final report in December 2003. Those findings will be considered in developing the collective bargaining language on which teachers and the school board will vote in March 2004.

The Pay for Performance Pilot and the Joint Task Force on Teacher Compensation have been generously supported by Rose Community Foundation, The Broad Foundation, The Sturm Family Foundation, The Daniels Fund, The Piton Foundation, The Donnell-Kay Fund and The Denver Foundation.

Four town meetings are scheduled during May for all DPS staff and the community to learn more about the draft recommendation and offer comments:

THURSDAY, MAY 8

4:30 p.m.

Henry Middle School

3005 S. Golden Way

7:00 p.m.

Bruce Randolph Middle School

3955 Steele Street

TUESDAY, MAY 13

4:30 p.m.

Thomas Jefferson High School

3950 South Holly Street

7:00 p.m.

Columbian Elementary School

2925 West 40th Avenue