Jeffco Schools land $32.8 million grant for pay incentive program

LAKEWOOD – Some Jefferson County Public Schools teachers could be among the state’s top-paid classroom educators, making more than $100,000 a year thanks to a $32.8 million federal grant announced by the district Thursday.

The grant will go to compensate teachers at 20 Jeffco schools and will “test the impact of strategic compensation on increasing student achievement, and attracting, retaining and rewarding top educators,” according to a district spokeswoman.

The five-year federal Teacher Incentive Fund grant is intended to award “strategic compensation for licensed staff in high-needs schools,” according to the district.

In order to qualify for the pilot program, at least half the students in each of the 20 schools must qualify for free or reduced-price school meals and only elementary and middle schools are eligible.

“We know that outstanding educators make a difference in student success. By rewarding excellence, we are being accountable to students, parents and the community,” said Superintendent Cindy Stevenson.

The program is designed to reward outstanding performance in addition to the usual pay increases awarded for tenure and continuing education.

The pilot program in Jeffco will be based on how well the teachers meet goals for individual, team and school student achievement, performance evaluations and leadership activities, such as serving as a mentor to other teachers.

“I am excited about this grant because it gives Jeffco teachers the opportunity to shape our profession now and in the future,” said Jefferson County Education Association president Kerrie Dallman. “We know change is coming, and we want to help plan that change.”

In the current school year, teachers and principals will collaborate to plan and develop details of the program. The 2011-12 school year will be a transition year and in the following three years, Jeffco will fully implement a three-tier salary structure in half of the pilot schools.

Under the three-tier salary system, probationary teachers who are paid as base salary of  $40,000 a year can earn as $10,000 more a year in “strategic compensation” in the pilot program; non-probationary teachers with a base pay of $55,000 a year could add another $20,000 to their annual salary; and “mentor or master” teachers with a base pay of at least $80.000 also could pick up another $20,000 a year.

The other 10 pilot program schools will serve as a “control group” in which the staff will receive a 1 percent annual participation stipend.

The grant-funded pilot program dovetails with a new state accreditation law that rates schools and districts in part by how much students learn from year to year. That gauge comprises at least half of the evaluations, which will be required by 2014 for all teachers and principals.

“With this grant, Jeffco educators will be able to take a leadership role in planning for these changes,” according to a Jeffco School district statement.

Two-dozen Jeffco schools would be eligible for the program. They are: Allendale, Deane, Edgewater, Eiber, Fitzmorris, Foothills, Foster, Green Mountain, Kullerstrand, Lawrence, Lumberg, Martensen, Pennington, Secrest, Slater, Stein, Thomson, Vivian, Welchester and Wilmore-Davis elementary schools;  Arvada K-8; and Everett, North Arvada and O’Connell middle schools.