Should school administrators lose National Board pay?
North Carolina currently leads the nation with the most National Board Certified teachers, 11, 300 to be exact. Part of the reason for this is that the state of North Carolina pays the majority of the $2,300 application fee and offers a salary increase of 12% for earning this certification. Teachers earning a master’s degree in this state receive only a 9% increase. Recent studies have shown that Nationally Board Certified teachers show more gains in student acheivment than non-certified teachers, particularly in regards to young children and low-income students (CRPE, 2004). It seems logical that teachers who earn this certification be utilized as school leaders, particularly in low-performing schools. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction has developed guidelines stating that National Board Certified teachers must spend 70% of their work day in classroom instruction to be eligible for the 12% salary increase. NC DPI clearly states that nationally certified teachers working as coordinators or principals are not eligible for this pay unless the majority of their day is spent in classroom instruction. Isn’t one of the functions of a school administrator to be an instructional leader for teachers? I understand that the purpose of recruiting teachers to become nationally board certified is to keep qualified teachers in the classroom, but what happens when these teachers are called to fill leadership roles? Is it fair to take away the 12% raise for teachers who want to serve as curriculum specialists or school administrators? The National Education Association published a report recently that listed ideas and policy recommendations that evolved from a summit which included national board certified teachers from across the state of North Carolina. One of the recommendations listed was to “develop NBCTs as leaders for high-needs schools.” It only makes sense that if research has shown that national board certified teachers are more effective in raising the achievement of low-income students that they would make effective leaders in a high-needs school. As the need for school administrators rises, the state should be doing everything they can to encourage NBCTs to take on school leadership positions, not penalize them for it.
References
www.dpi.state.nc.us/recruitment/nationalboardcertification/
“National Board Certification Successfully Identifies Effective Teachers” March 2004 www.crpe.org
“Every Child Deserves Our Best: Recommendations from North Carolina’s National Board Certified Teachers” www.nea.org/nationalboard/nc-everychild.html
Your Turn to Blog | Comments (5)5 Responses to “Should school administrators lose National Board pay?”
Leave a Reply
Great topic to blog! I was not aware of the exact increase in pay for NC teachers holding a master degree. In my opinion a teacher who holds a master degree should receive a higher percent increase in pay than a board certified teacher. There should be certification for school leaders a well. Teachers who have obtained board certification should not lose pay as a school leader. This NC policy contributes to the decreasing amount of school leaders. Teachers who would otherwise serve as great school leaders, decide to stay in the classroom for greater pay & less responsibility.
Great topic to blog! I was not aware of the exact increase in pay for NC teachers holding a master degree. In my opinion a teacher who holds a master degree should receive a higher percent increase in pay than a board certified teacher. There should be certification for school leaders as well. Teachers who have obtained board certification should not lose pay as a school leader. This NC policy contributes to the decreasing amount of school leaders. Teachers who would otherwise serve as great school leaders, decide to stay in the classroom for greater pay & less responsibility.
This issue depends on the county one works in because I have two AP friends in two different counties. One keeps her NB pay as an admin. and the other does not. I think that the one that kept it negotiated to do so. It is worth asking about. If teachers are going to be asked to take on leadership positions, I would think that it would be unfair to reduce their pay.
While I fully support opportunities for teachers to grow and develop professionally, I prefer the pay plan that my former distrit used. They paid up to 3000$ for teachers to take courses to grow professionally. I added several certifications this way. Our pay scale had bachelors +15 hours, +30 hours, +45 hours, Masters, Masters +15,+30 +45, etc. It really motivated teachers to take courses and allowed us to have teachers add on certification areas. With NB, there is no added certification. When I came to NC as an outsider (and through two semesters of administrative interning), I have noticed that a lot of the strongest teachers have NB–but some do not. Some of the weakest teachers have it, too…and of course, many weak ones do not. I guess that my point is that it is not a complete endorsement that the teacher that has it is a powerful educator. To me, my former system rewarded professional growth and seemed like a more level playing field. Just my thoughts as a newcomer to NC.
Excellent issue to think about. I know one situation where a teacher would earn more staying a teacher earning National Board pay than working as an administrator. She decided to give up her assistant principalship and make the move back to the classroom. I think NC pays the 12% differential with the intention of keeping a good teacher in the classroom. Although, it seems logical the best administrators would come from those who truly are accomplished teachers first. Why penalize National Board achievers by taking away the pay differential for making the move to leadership?
I originally chose this issue to blog about because it hits close to home. I earned my National Board Certification in 2003, and when I become an AP, I will actually earn less money than when I was in the classroom. I had the opportunity a few years ago to serve on a Teaching Fellows Regional screening committe with a member of the legislature who had presented a bill that would allow administrators to keep their National Board pay. Unfortunately, the bill was not passed. There are many educators that feel strongly about this issue and think that National Board Certified teachers need to stay in the classroom, especially after the state of North Carolina had to pay the high application fee for them to apply for the process.
One local school system is considering the idea of “assigning” National Board Certified teachers to high-needs schools. Their rationale is that teachers are employed by the school system, not the individual school. Once again, I ask the question of why teachers who have undergone the rigorous process of achieving this certification have to face so many limitations? First these teachers must face limitations on their opportunities for advancement, and now they may be transferred to high-needs schools involuntarily. It seems to me that this would discourage teachers from seeking this certification, instead of encouraging it.