What ever happened: Teachers receive merit pay

The story

In May 2013, the Lamar County School Board voted 5-0 to approve a plan for awarding merit pay increases to teachers beginning in fall 2014.

Lamar County School District had volunteered to be one of four pilot districts in the state to participate in a merit pay program. Gov. Phil Bryant was pushing merit pay as a way to encourage increased teacher effectiveness through a compensation system based on performance.

What happened?

The district awarded the first merit pay checks this month to teachers who qualified.

It was based on a teacher’s performance on the state’s M-STAR evaluation and on goals a teacher’s school achieved.

Teachers who received 3.0 to 3.4 on the M-STAR were eligible for merit pay. Those receiving lower than 3.0 were not.

Chris Wooten, the district’s director of human resources, said a total of $340,000 was distributed.

He said the district has 700 teachers and 90 percent to 95 percent qualified for merit pay.

What’s next?

The district is participating in the pilot program again, Wooten said. But this time around, the merit pay can’t be based as much on the M-STAR.

“It will be more stringent and probably fewer people will qualify,” he said. “For a true incentive, you should be rewarding those who go above and beyond.”