North Carolina ends teacher tenure and automatic pay increases for master’s degrees

In a bold move, North Carolina ends teacher tenure and automatic pay increases for master’s degrees.

The legislation targets a compensation mechanism that is common in the U.S., where teachers receive automatic pay increases for years of service and advanced degrees. Some research has suggested those advanced degrees don’t lead to improved teaching….

… experts say North Carolina is believed to be the first state to do so.

The budget bill—which drew hundreds of teachers to the Capitol in protest earlier this week—also eliminates tenure for elementary and high-school teachers and freezes teacher salaries for the fifth time in six years.

Now the “best and the brightest” will avoid teaching careers?

Tim Barnsback, a teacher at Heritage Middle School in Valdese, N.C., said, “Morale is going to be at an all-time low” due to the new policies and budget. “The best and the brightest aren’t going to go into the profession,” he added.

This legislation was passed after the “GOP gained control of both legislative chambers and the governor’s office for the first time in 144 years”.  This latest state budget allocates 56% toward education, a 1% increase over last year.

Advanced degrees don’t generally improve student achievement levels.

A number of studies have shown that teachers with advanced degrees don’t, necessarily, produce higher student achievement than teachers who hold only a bachelor’s. Other studies have shown an advantage to holding a master’s in math and the sciences for high-school teachers. About 28% of North Carolina teachers hold master’s degrees.

This move could have the positive effect of doing away with mediocre master’s programs.

Glenn Reynolds points out “there are a lot of programs — particularly in education colleges — that exist largely to serve the automatic-pay-raise-for-degree market”.  One study showed that about $14.8 was spent in the 2007-08 school year on “the master’s bump for teachers”.

Automatic pay raises don’t reward top teachers.

It must be tough to go without a raise for five years, but many workers in the private sector have experienced the same thing.  Many have suffered salary cuts and layoffs.  It’s been a tough recession, coupled with a “jobless” recovery.  Automatic pay increases across the board seem like an anachronistic luxury, as well as an ineffective way to reward top teachers.

Related:  ‘we need to be able to say out loud that some teachers are better than others’ (Cost of College)