Milan Schools Selected For Teacher Pay Program

(Milan, Ind.) - Milan Community Schools will be part of a pilot program to evaluate a new merit-based program for teachers pay.

The Indiana Department of Education announced Monday that Milan Schools are one of two districts selected to explore ways to improve teacher pay structures. The other is Randolph Central Schools in Winchester. Both districts had applied last month to participate in the pilot program.

The feedback given by teachers will be used in the process to design new pay structures in the two districts.

Last year, Indiana lawmakers passed a requirement for merit-based pay for teachers, basing salaries not just on seniority and degrees. Starting in the 2012-13 school year, schools across the state will begin awarding raises only to teachers which earn a rating of “highly effective” or “effective.”

“Indiana’s educators work hard on behalf of their students, and the new laws allow school leaders to use salary increases to recognize them for their efforts and accomplishments,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett said in an announcement. “Under new laws, Indiana schools have more power than ever before to reward their best educators, which empowers school leaders to attract, retain and develop highly-effective educators for every classroom.”

According to the department, the two districts’ work will provide the following guidance for other school corporations:

A comprehensive analysis of the current teacher pay structure, including salary schedules, benefits and incentives;

An outline of the design priorities for new teacher pay structures to help local districts tailor new scales that meet legal guidelines;

Options for new teacher pay structures, with an analysis of the benefits and potential challenges for each;

Financial models that take into account the potential for decreased, flat and increased revenue scenarios, which will ensure the sustainability of any new model; and

A plan for transitioning from the corporation’s current model to the new one.

Teachers from Milan and Randolph Central will begin working on the program immediately with the project running through July.

“A major concern of ours is the need to provide equity for our younger teachers who never benefitted from our old salary schedule model,” Milan Community Schools Superintendent Dr. Thomas Reale said. “We hope to find a way within the new law to channel more of the available money for salary increases to them so they can aspire to be compensated in a way their more senior colleagues already are.”

The DOE said the two districts were chosen based on the potential for scaling their efforts statewide and their commitment to working with the department.