Sunday, January 1, 2012

Show Us Your Money Maker



Washington D.C. has a new teacher evaluation system that gives master teachers merit-based pay increases. It's the logical thing to do, but because of protests from powerful teachers unions, most districts are unable to make the leap. “We want to make great teachers rich,” says Jason Kamras, the district’s chief of human capital. Music to our ears! Read the New York Times article about this great breakthrough.

'Under the system, known as Impact Plus, teachers rated “highly effective” earn bonuses ranging from $2,400 to $25,000. Teachers who get that rating two years in a row are eligible for a large permanent pay increase to make their salary equivalent to that of a colleague with five more years of experience and a more advanced degree.'

Most teachers in Bhutan have a starting pay of about 12,000 nu per month (equivalent to about $240 US) with a cap of about 17,000 ($320). More on Bhutanese salaries here, but suffice to say when civil servants received their last pay raise, the increase for teachers was the most slight. It's the most noble of professions and yet the systems seems designed to discouraging the noble form applying.

2 comments:

  1. Hello Noa
    How do I contact you?
    I help with a Canadian charity supporting monastic education for women in the Tang valley.
    The Lho Mon mandate really resonates with me.

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  2. Dear Arpita,

    Thank you for your two comments. You can always contact me at noa@sji.bt. I was very interested in the Bumthang project and would like to see their program. Would love to chat.

    - Noa

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