DISD Can't Afford to Water Down Its Teacher Pay System

Because money is tight, Dallas schools superintendent Michael Hinojosa said this week that he will propose changes to DISD's innovative teacher evaluation and merit pay system. The district simply can't afford it in its current form.We've long supported smart tweaks to improve the 3-year-old program. But we implore Dallas ISD not to water down the major tenets of one of its most important reforms in years.The Teacher Excellence Initiative is doing just what it was designed to do: DISD is keeping the vast majority of its most effective teachers. On average, those teachers are getting the biggest raises. Most of the teachers the district is losing are those who've shown poor performance under the system.  Continue reading...