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What would happen if Lawrence teachers received more pay, if they learned new skills or used new teaching strategies?

It's a question Supt. Randy Weseman wants educators to consider as the district studies revamping its salary system and plans for an upturn in state funds.

"I'm the kind of person who believes what gets rewarded, gets done," Weseman said. "I would like to see people compensated for improving their skills and becoming more professional."

About a year ago, a delegation of school board and Lawrence Education Assn. members went to Chicago for a conference on the topic of performance pay. But since then, there has been no formal movement on the subject. That appears to be common, experts said.

"There's a lot less going on than is talked about," said Anthony Milanowski, a scientist with the Consortium for Policy Research in Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who researches teacher compensation.

But there may be more discussions in the Lawrence district in the future.

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"We are interested in studying it further," said Al Gyles, a teacher and LEA member who attended the conference. "We are interested in eventually implementing such a thing. But we have a long way to go."

With performance pay, educators are rewarded for skills and knowledge they gain. Compared to the more controversial merit pay concept, performance pay looks at more direct measures of professional knowledge and is less subjective in its evaluation of teachers, Weseman said.

It's simply an idea at this point, and there are no concrete plans. Weseman said a performance pay system could involve a baseline pay, and teachers could receive a stipend for certifying that they've learned a new skill or teaching strategy and are using it in the classroom.

"You could actually build a repertoire of skills that are rewarded, and you could augment your skills that way," he said.

But there are challenges.

"I think the only way you could do this is when you get an influx of new money," Weseman said. "Over the next three years as we get new money, any exploration of the current compensation system would be a good thing."

Gyles also said money is an issue. He predicted it would be costly to implement. And he said he believed the district would need to balance salaries first.

"It has to be a suitable system to begin with," he said.

Teachers would need some control over staff development issues, and there are issues regarding teacher evaluations, Gyles said.

But he said a performance pay system has its benefits. There could potentially be no limit to how much teachers earn, he said.

"There's no top to it," he said.

Weseman said the objective is to improve the quality of education for students.

"I'm not suggesting that this happen right now," he said. "I'm suggesting over the long term over the next five years, it could be something they could explore as they're looking at changing the system. If you're going to change the system now - and there's discussion about that - why don't we talk about how we can actually reward professional behavior?"

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