Cincinnati's groundbreaking teacher pay plan seems headed for rejection next week because teachers weren't told of possible changes to the plan, Superintendent Steven Adamowski said Wednesday.

Adamowski

        Mr. Adamowski said leadership of the district's teachers union did not inform its 3,300 members of modifications floated in mid-April for the plan, which calls for salary raises and cuts to be based on teachers' evaluations.

        “Our perception is teachers are very uninformed on this issue,” said Mr. Adamowski, who considers the plan a linchpin to continuing his education reforms. “The union has an obligation to share this with its membership.”

        Union teachers are scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to tie their pay to the evaluation system in one of the nation's first pay-for-performance plans.

        Mr. Adamowski said he believes suggested modifications would secure the necessary votes for the plan to pass.

        The union's leadership doesn't agree, saying proposing changes one month before the historic vote offers inadequate time to inform members. In a recent phone poll of more than 300 federation members, only 9 percent said they support the plan.

        “Could we put it on a fast-track over a month?” said Cincinnati Federation of Teachers President Sue Taylor. “Maybe. Maybe not. But (the executive council) wanted time for proper deliberations.”

        Among recommended changes:

        • The compensation system would be voluntary for all current employees while only new hires would be required to take part.

        • New hires would be evaluated in their second instead of first year, and they would receive coaching and mentoring in year one.

        The district and the union began constructing the plan in 1998 to improve teacher quality and raise student achievement. After a yearlong pilot program, a new teacher evaluation system went into effect last school year. The system is not yet tied to teachers' pay.

        Linking the evaluations to pay will go in effect this fall unless 70 percent of union members voting oppose it Wednesday, or the board of education rejects the plan.

        Some board members say they would like to postpone the teachers' vote or reject the pay plan to allow time for refinement and more teacher training.

        Ms. Taylor said the vote will go forward unless rejected by the board.

        In April, the union's executive council recommended teachers reject the plan. Among reasons cited:

        • The system is too complicated.

        • Teachers need more training.

        • 369 teachers — less than 10 percent of CPS teachers — last year had experienced the most rigorous form of the evaluations, called “comprehensive evaluations.”

        Mr. Adamowski said he's disappointed the union's executive council refused to inform the membership of the modifications discussed with Ms. Taylor in mid-April.

        Ms. Taylor said she erred by discussing possible plan changes with district officials without authority from the union's collective bargaining team. Though she supports the pay-for-performance concept, she said the system has flaws that must be addressed before teachers can support the plan, including whether the district can afford the plan.

        Board member Harriet Russell said she would vote to reject the plan, if given the opportunity, so the process could be improved. .

        “You don't rush an implementation of this magnitude,” she said.

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