Tom Moran of the Star-Ledger notes the Newark Teachers Union’s pending vote on a new contract that incorporates merit pay in the context of NJ’s implementation of a data-based teacher evaluation system:

Despite the huge investment [of about $22K annual cost per pupil], half of Newark kids drop out of school. And of those who make it to college, 90 percent need remedial help. Clearly, money is not the entire answer. Reform of the teaching profession is needed as well.

The contract provides generous increases averaging 14 percent over three years. It offers highly effective teachers $5,000 bonuses, another $5,000 if they agree to work in struggling schools, and yet another $2,500 if they teach subjects such as math and science, jobs that are harder to fill.

If teachers reject this contract, all that will be lost. In addition, the contract gives teachers a seat at the table when evaluations are done. Peer review like this is working well where it’s been tried. Teachers should remember that evaluations will be done one way or another, a mandate of state law. What this contracts adds is a right for them to participate