Gov. to veto teacher pay scale revisions

Gov. Susana Martinez will veto a bill that would have revised the criteria for teacher pay scales, a spokesman for her office said Thursday.

The bill, which passed both chambers of the Legislature, would have codified some aspects of the three-tier teacher licensure system and would have incorporated the state’s new teacher evaluation system into the law that governs teacher pay.

Martinez spokesman Enrique Knell said the bill “solidifies the status quo.”

“Unfortunately, this legislation bases advancement on inputs which are not linked to improving student achievement. Gov. Martinez supports an approach that evaluates teachers through a combination of student assessment results, observations, and locally decided measures,” Knell said in an email.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton, D-Albuquerque.

Albuquerque Teachers Federation President Ellen Bernstein said she viewed the bill as a compromise that would give teachers multiple options for career advancement.

Currently, teachers move up a three-tier licensure ladder based on years of experience, earning advanced degrees, and submitting a dossier of essays, student work samples and other evidence of teacher quality.

The details of the dossier system are in administrative rule, not law. The three-tier law lays out the pay scale and says teachers advance by meeting qualifications laid out by the Public Education Department.

Instead of the leaving the criteria for advancement to the discretion of the PED, HB 481 lays out the current dossier process and would allow teachers to advance through the tiers by getting high ratings from the state teacher evaluation system. That system has been revamped by Education Secretary-designate Hanna Skandera, and starting next year, teachers will be evaluated on the basis of their students’ test score improvement, classroom observations and other measures.

Bernstein said the bill would give teachers options.

“Who am I to say that teachers would not choose to use high-stakes testing for movement in their licensure? Maybe some teachers would prefer that,” Bernstein said.

Stapleton said that she talked to teachers statewide and that the current dossier system got mixed reviews. Some teachers told her it helped them reflect on their teaching, while others said it was meaningless. She said teachers should have a choice.
— This article appeared on page A6 of the Albuquerque Journal