Performance System Slow to Catch On in Minnesota

School districts in Minnesota have been slow to warm up to a state program that rewards teachers for performance rather than seniority, and educators in one district recently voted to dump it.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty wants to expand the program, which was announced in July 2005. But just 34 of the state’s 339 districts so far have joined in the Quality Compensation initiative, or Q Comp, despite the lure of additional state funds. The allocation for the 2005-2007 biennium was $86 million of which the education department expects to spend $51.4 million.

Teachers’ union officials say districts and locals are reluctant to embrace the program because it is, at this...