The "Professional Educator Program,” a $53 million federal "Teacher Incentive Fund" which New Haven rebranded to "PEP" offers educators who are rated “effective” or higher the opportunity to apply for competitive stipend positions. In addition to teaching duties, educators may earn an additional $5,000 to serve as “teacher facilitators,” “super tutors,” or “curriculum specialists.”

The implementation of this differentiated pay system comes on the heels of New Haven’s second reform contract, which also ties the advancement of salary steps to teacher evaluation. The arrival of merit pay also coincides with a national push from the Obama Administration, which replaces supplemental funding to state’s education budgets with Race to the Top, a competitive federal grant program that incentivizes states to battle for a finite pool of money--part of an overall attack on public schools and their unions.

In New Haven, the grant, which secured the money for the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF grant), was written to advance merit pay and ultimately reconfigure our salary scale. The stipend positions are intended to quantify our labor and value as individuals, which is contrary to the purpose of a union. Some may believe that educators should be compensated based on their effectiveness in the classroom but all workers have the right to expect a stable salary. Additionally, merit pay has not been proven to be an effective means of improving public education. Merit pay undermines collaboration and teamwork; it corrupts the culture of a school.

While New Haven’s version of merit pay takes on a slightly different form than pay based on test scores, the program nevertheless fosters competition in place of unity in purpose. A teacher who consistently stays after school to work with students who need remediation or enrichment is devalued when a colleague is offered a $5000 bonus to do the same.

We believe the Professional Educator’s Program devalues our education and experience as professionals.. We believe that all students deserve excellent schools which include additional resources, tutors and specialists; but we don’t believe competing with our colleagues over monetary incentive will produce the schools New Haven students deserve. We, the undersigned, recognize that public schools do need improvement but believe that improvement will come through equitable funding and resources not damaging pay for performance schemes. We pledge not to apply for positions funded through the TIF grant.

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