Delegates attending the annual meeting of the National Education Association (NEA) enjoyed beautiful, sunny weather during their time in the city. Despite the opportunity to explore the city’s famous attractions, most delegates chose to remain at the convention center. On the day before official business began, nearly 7,000 delegates gathered to listen to Arne Duncan, the U.S. secretary of education. Throughout the holiday weekend, delegates debated and proposed resolutions regarding various elements of the Obama administration’s education policy agenda.
This year’s convention marked the NEA’s first major effort to understand the impact of the administration’s involvement in sensitive policy areas on the union’s 3.2-million members. Issues discussed at the convention included the expansion of charter schools, turning around low-performing schools, and changes to the way teachers are compensated and evaluated. In his speech, Secretary Duncan called on teachers’ unions to be active partners in education reform and collaborate with districts to develop fair methods of including student achievement growth in evaluation and pay systems. While Mr. Duncan acknowledged that test scores should not be the sole factor in these decisions, he stressed the importance of considering student achievement.
Delegates showed support for continued federal funding for education, improved training for administrators, and better teacher-mentoring programs. However, there were boos and hisses when Secretary Duncan mentioned linking pay and evaluation to test scores. Despite the union’s policy to allow pay bonuses for teachers with advanced certifications and for those taking on additional responsibilities, the NEA does not support performance-based pay or the use of test scores in pay and evaluation decisions. State and local affiliates have the freedom to experiment with different pay and evaluation plans, but they cannot receive support from the parent union.
NEA President Dennis Van Roekel promised delegates that he would seek further clarity on the use of student-achievement data for pay and tenure decisions. He hopes to understand the purpose behind the administration’s push for data systems that link teachers to their students’ test scores.
Delegates have reached an agreement regarding school turnarounds, giving the NEA the opportunity to exert influence on the Education Department’s recent proposal of a $5 billion, five-year plan for improving schools. In terms of compensation, the administration has allocated an additional $200 million to the Teacher Incentive Fund, a federal initiative aimed at providing performance-based pay for teachers, as part of the stimulus program. Furthermore, the administration is seeking $517 million for the TIF in the 2010 fiscal budget. However, there are still a few contentious issues to address, such as whether school districts receiving these grants should collectively negotiate pay programs with their local unions. NEA officials would prefer to prioritize increased funding for Title II teacher-quality state grants, rather than allocating additional funds to the TIF. Title II grants are available to all states and can be utilized for various initiatives, including reducing class sizes or supporting professional development, in contrast to the more narrowly defined and discretionary nature of the TIF program.