Alternative compensation revenue was created by the Minnesota legislature in 2005 to encourage school districts to adopt alternative pay structures for teachers. The legislature funded what we now call “Q-Comp” at $78.5 million in aid and $9 million in levy. A school district that adopts such a pay structure for the 2005-06 school year is eligible to receive $260 per unweighted pupil in state aid; for the 2006-07 school year and beyond, districts can receive $190 per student in state aid and $70 per student in a partially equalized levy.  (School districts are not required to publicly levy the $70/student in order to receive $190/student in state aid.)

School districts (not individual schools) can apply to the State to receive the additional revenue if the district has these elements already in place:

1. A career ladder for teachers.  That is, if teachers want to stay in education, but would like to move out of the classroom and still advance, there have to be options for them apart from becoming a principal.  Examples could include teacher coach, teacher mentor or master teacher.
   
   
2. Job-embedded professional development.—Time built into the school day for school leaders to provide relevant and meaningful professional development for teachers to work collaboratively with each other.
   
   
3. Instructional observation and standards-based assessments.  The teachers’ work has to be observed and documented as meeting or exceeding professional standards.
   
   
4. Measures to determine “student growth over time.”  The Minnesota Comprehensive Achievement tests (MCA-IIs) are being modified to accomplish this purpose. 
   
   
5. An alternative pay scale (performance-based pay) that rewards teachers for results.  This is the part that we hear about most often from Governor Pawlenty and the media.

If the district can demonstrate that all these elements are already in place and gain the approval of 80% of the teachers' union, the district can get $260 per student in additional revenue from state aid and local levy.  The catch?  $260 in revenue is not enough to sustain these five elements. 

Pilot Schools

Minneapolis elementary schools piloting this program have had to acquire grants well in excess of $260 per student to sustain the program.  These pilot schools report the most important elements to improving student achievement are the job-embedded staff development, teacher coaching and teacher mentoring.  Their experience shows that $580-$780 per student is required to adequately maintain these elements.  In the case of the pilot schools, the difference was made up by grants from national foundations.

Where does performance-based pay come in?  Interestingly, this is the part that Governor Pawlenty thinks is the most important.  He thinks that if teachers are paid according to performance, they’ll be better teachers despite a large body of research that shows that teachers are not highly motivated by money. 

Here’s how the performance pay part might work:  At the beginning of the year, an amount (for example, $2,000 per teacher) is set aside for a potential bonus.  In order to earn the full $2,000 bonus, teachers must meet pre-established criteria based on student achievement and professional performance standards.  For example, the student achievement growth measure might be set at all students achieving at least two standard deviations above average on a standardized test.  It’s important that the student achievement measure be based on growth (gains) in order to not penalize teachers for the achievement level of students at the beginning of the school year.  The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) are being modified to allow for growth measures. Judgements about teacher performance might be made by an evaluation team (which might or might not include administrators) based on the teacher's professional development plan and progress toward accomplishing the Minnesota Standards for Effective Practice.

Critique

1. Funding is inadequate to fully implement Q-Comp, as demonstrated by the experience of the pilot schools.
   
   
2. It’s not been made clear to taxpayers that a significant portion of Q-Comp funds come from non-voter approved local levies in the participating districts—These are not all state dollars!  Even so, school districts who don’t apply for Q-Comp may be seen as overlooking “free money” that has been designated to the state education budget, despite evaluations that show the funds are insufficient to fully implement the program! Alternatively, if and when voters do have to vote on a school referendum to raise money for items other than Q-Comp, voters who have faced property tax increases as a result of Q-Comp may be hesitant to vote in favor of important referendum dollars.
   
   
3. The political focus of Q-Comp is on the merit pay, not professional development and evaluation.  If we look hard and long at what will really makes a difference in student achievement, it's adequately preparing our teachers to meet higher expectations while working with increasingly challenging students. Planning, coaching, mentoring, training, instructional observations and performance evaluations all take time and money, money that might be better spent developing career ladders for teachers and effective performance evaluation processes.
   
   
4. There are no firm plans for how to evaluate the success or failure of the Q-Comp program.  When asked in October, “Is there any evaluation of Q-Comp after the first two years?  How will you determine its success or failure?,” neither Governor Pawlenty nor Deputy Commissioner Chas Anderson had an adequate response.

It's also not clear Q-Comp will be refunded in two years. This critique is provided to help parents understand how Q-Comp is another underfunded mandate, and how this could be a very temporary distraction (an attempt at a quick-fix), rather than a thoughtful approach to finding a way to meet the educational needs of ALL Minnesota students. 

Resources

August 2005 - Everything You Need to Know About Q Comp, Minnesota Department of Education.

Quality Compensation for Teachers Program "Q Comp"—Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), Minnesota Department of Education.