Cargill wants teacher input on merit pay idea

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s public school teachers are being asked to “participate in the process of constructing a new teacher performance pay plan” by completing an online survey about House Speaker Lance Cargill’s merit pay idea.

The survey — located at: www.okhouse.gov/survey/ — is sponsored by Cargill’s office.

“Any Oklahoma teacher may log on to the House Web site to fill out a survey that asks their opinion on specifically how the plan should be constructed,” Cargill, R-Harrah, said in a media release e-mail Friday.

The survey follows several weeks of interim studies conducted by the House of Representatives about the speaker’s merit pay idea. Since September, House education committee members have heard opinions from business leaders, career tech professionals and representatives of the state teachers’ union about a possible merit pay plan for state teachers.

Cargill said House leaders were polling teachers because they wanted their input.

“In Oklahoma, we value our educators, and we want their help in developing an outstanding educational system in which all our children can excel,” he said.

Officials from the state’s largest teachers’ union, the Oklahoma Education Association, urged their 40,000-plus members to participate.

In a posting on OEA President Roy Bishop’s Web blog, Bishop directs state educators to the survey.

“They are currently conducting an interim study on the topic of performance pay and they are hearing testimony from many experts who are sharing their experiences and knowledge on the subject,” Bishop wrote. “They would also like to hear from you. Please click on the link and give them your opinions.”

Cargill’s office said the survey includes questions such as:

• “Are you satisfied with the current public school teacher pay structure? If not, why?”

• “How would you change or enhance it?”

•“If we adopt a performance or incentive pay plan, what evaluation tools do you think would be the most effective?”

Other questions deal with growth in student achievement, collaboration, peer review and professional development.
“With their (teachers’) input, and with input from other experts, we hope to develop a performance pay plan that is fair to all teachers and rewards those teachers who help their students succeed,” Cargill said.

While the speaker’s office says about 1,300 have already taken part in its survey, those filling out the online form are required to include their name, school and what grades and subjects they teach.

“In order to verify that the individuals filling out the online surveys are in fact teachers, the survey features a space for teachers to fill out their name, their school and what grades and subjects they teach,” Cargill’s release said.

Next Tuesday, the House Education Committee will hold its final interim study hearing on the merit pay issue.