Teaching Profession

AFT To Urge Locals To Consider New Pay Strategies

By Jeff Archer — February 21, 2001 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The American Federation of Teachers is encouraging its affiliates to explore the use of new pay systems that include some forms of pay for performance and differentiated pay for teachers in high-demand areas.

By a unanimous vote this month, the union’s 39-member executive council approved a resolution stating that “we must enhance the traditional compensation schedule using approaches that contribute to more effective teaching and learning.”

Although it includes several provisos, the document represents a significant break from the past for the 1 million-member union, as well as with the National Education Association.

While a growing number of AFT locals are experimenting with new pay plans, the national union had yet to make an official statement of support for specific kinds of compensation that go beyond typical salary schedules. Such schedules are based almost exclusively on the level of education a teacher has attained and her years of experience.

Sandra Feldman

“It really does take us into a very forward-looking process on making some significant changes in the way teachers are compensated,” Sandra Feldman, the president of the AFT, said last week. “This is, I think, revolutionary.”

The statement comes at a time when many performance-related pay plans still draw mixed—and often hostile—reaction from many teachers. Last summer, delegates to the annual meeting of the 2.6 million-member NEA shot down a resolution that would have opened the door to some NEA support for experiments in the way teachers are paid.

“It’s important that [the support] is coming from a union, because for so long the unions were standing against these sort of common-sense solutions,” said Marci Kanstoroom, the research director for the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, a Washington think tank. “But the AFT has shown a lot of spunk in taking on issues where the rest of the education establishment has had its head in the sand.”

Stipulations

But the AFT stresses that it won’t accept every new pay plan to come down the pike, and that it’s up to each local affiliate to decide what, if any, changes to embrace.

The new resolution suggests several forms of alternative compensation as worth considering, including: bonuses for schoolwide improvement on test scores; incentives aimed at attracting teachers to schools that traditionally have had trouble recruiting and into shortage areas such as mathematics and science; and extra pay for teachers who demonstrate that they’ve acquired new knowledge and skills.

But the document also argues that such supplements should add to, rather than replace, the traditional system of paying teachers for their seniority and education. And it withholds support for attempts to link the salaries of individual teachers to their students’ test results.

A task force headed by Randi Weingarten, the president of the United Federation of Teachers, the AFT’s New York City local, drafted the resolution. During ongoing negotiations for a new teachers’ contract there, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani has argued that educators’ pay should be tied to the progress that their students make on standardized tests, a provision the UFT pledges to continue resisting.

“We’re willing to do incentives and differentials that make sense and that are not destructive to the educational process,” Ms. Weingarten said.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the February 21, 2001 edition of Education Week as AFT To Urge Locals To Consider New Pay Strategies

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
The Future of the Science of Reading
Join us for a discussion on the future of the Science of Reading and how to support every student’s path to literacy.
Content provided by HMH
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
From Classrooms to Careers: How Schools and Districts Can Prepare Students for a Changing Workforce
Real careers start in school. Learn how Alton High built student-centered, job-aligned pathways.
Content provided by TNTP
Mathematics K-12 Essentials Forum Helping Students Succeed in Math

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Profession Opinion What Teachers Need to Know About Navigating Political Turmoil
Educators share guidance on how to deal with the present moment.
1 min read
Photo of U.S. Capitol building.
Education Week + Getty
Teaching Profession Want to Teach in Oklahoma? You May Have to Prove You're Not 'Woke'
The state is partnering with PragerU to develop an assessment for incoming educators.
3 min read
Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters holds his hand over his heart during the National Anthem at inauguration ceremonies on Jan. 9, 2023, in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters holds his hand over his heart during the National Anthem at inauguration ceremonies on Jan. 9, 2023, in Oklahoma City. Walters announced plans for a new test to screen teachers from states considered “woke.”
Sue Ogrocki/AP
Teaching Profession ‘You Can Lead Now’: Inside the NEA’s Plan to Engage New Teachers
In an aging workforce, the nation's largest teachers' union seeks ways to engage younger educators.
3 min read
Em DePriest of Kansas speaks on behalf of a proposal to create an early career teacher working group. Members of the National Education Association's Aspiring Educators Program move to bring an initiative to a vote during the NEA Representative Assembly in Portland, Ore., on July 3, 2025.
Em DePriest, a teacher in Kansas, speaks in favor of a proposal to create an early-career teacher working group. Members of the National Education Association's Aspiring Educators program moved to bring the initiative to a vote during the NEA representative assembly in Portland, Ore., on July 3, 2025.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Teaching Profession Can the National Education Association Win Over Republican Members?
Union leaders seek common ground with conservative teachers while managing an active, mostly liberal membership.
5 min read
The National Education Association's Republic Educators Caucus tabled at the NEA Representative Assembly on July 4, 2025, in Portland, Ore
The National Education Association's Republican Educators Caucus had a table at the NEA representative assembly on July 4, 2025, in Portland, Ore. The national teachers' union has been working to engage conservative teachers and communities.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week