Merit pay is solution to teacher shortages in US

With a new school year getting underway, public-school districts in the US are sounding alarms about a looming shortage of teachers. In response, some states have loosened rules to bring more workers, including those who haven’t yet earned a college degree, into the profession. These efforts are worthwhile — but they’re only addressing half the problem.
Although reports of a nationwide “exodus” of teachers are exaggerated, acute shortages have persisted for years in certain areas, especially in low-income and rural districts. District leaders have also reported increased difficulty filling vacancies for full-time math, science and high school teachers. For the most part, money isn’t the issue: Over the past two years, districts have tapped federal relief money to ramp up hiring of substitutes and remote-learning instructors who could step in for teachers out with Covid, but they have been slow to spend the funds. As the pandemic subsides, those resources could be used to hire teachers in high-need areas.
The big challenge is finding them. With enrollment in teacher-preparation programs in steep decline, states are boosting incentives to attract new graduates and to keep experienced teachers in the work force. They’re also experimenting with other ways to broaden the labor pool. Pennsylvania has lifted restrictions to allow teachers licensed in other states, while Arizona permits candidates with subject-matter expertise to work without a teaching credential. In Georgia, retired teachers can return to the classroom and keep their pension benefits. Roughly a dozen states have made it easier to get a teaching license, with both Arizona and Florida waiving long-standing requirements that teachers earn bachelor’s degrees before being hired for full-time positions; in Florida, military veterans without degrees can obtain five-year teaching certificates if they pass an exam in the subject they’re hired to teach.
Policies like these have provoked the ire of unions, which say they convey disrespect for teachers and undermine professional standards. And it’s surely fair to worry about hiring unqualified applicants. Yet in teaching, as in other occupations, merely having a degree is no guarantee of competence — and there’s little evidence that teachers with formal education credentials produce better outcomes for students than those without them.
Rather than dwelling on degrees or other credentials, districts should try to focus more on ability — in part by revamping how teachers are evaluated and paid. Linking teachers’ compensation to their performance would help to raise academic standards, encourage new teachers to pursue professional development, and draw more skilled workers to the profession. Districts in at least 30 states offer performance-based bonuses to teachers, which have led to average gains in student learning equal to an additional three weeks of school. Programs that offer incentives partly based on students’ standardized test scores have also been found to improve retention rates among Black and Latino teachers and those working in low-income schools.

—Bloomberg