Colo. District Boots Traditional Salary Schedule

Harrison School District Two Superintendent Mike Miles is rolling out a system for teachers in the Colorado district that will scrap the salary schedule and reward teachers in part for student achievement.

—Nathan W. Armes for Education Week

Educators will be judged on instructional practice and student achievement.

By Stephen Sawchuk

Colorado Springs, Colo.

The much-lauded ProComp system in Denver is unquestionably Colorado’s most famous contribution to the intensifying dialogue about performance-based compensation, but it now has competition from a district just 60 miles to the south: Harrison School District Two.

Located at the southern end of Colorado Springs, the 11,000-student district this fall will be among the first in the nation to replace the traditional salary schedule with a pay system based entirely on observations of teacher practice and student-achievement results.

The “Effectiveness and Results” pay plan is the capstone of an aggressive effort by Superintendent Mike Miles...