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September 26, 2007

Setting an example

The Lowell Sun
Article Last Updated: 09/25/2007 11:56:11 AM EDT

Although she did not receive her $5,000 bonus this year, Lowell Superintendent of Schools Karla Brooks Baehr did achieve three of the five challenging goals set for her and, equally important, set a tone of accountability for those whom she supervises.

Baehr controls a $138 million budget and supervises 2,152 full-time employees. She has enormous responsibilities and makes decisions that impact thousands of students, teachers and staff.

In years past, perhaps in light of her significant duties, the $5,000 performance bonus was treated more as an entitlement than a true bonus. There were no clear-cut goals that had to be achieved, no specific accountability measures in place.

We were pleased to see that in her recent evaluation, the superintendent was required to meet five express objectives that were set jointly by Baehr and the School Committee. The goals included implementing a short- and long-term maintenance and capital plan; formulating a fiscally sound budget for fiscal 2008; and increasing the percentage of limited English-proficiency students in the "transitioning" stage that are deemed "probable" to move beyond being considered LEP or out of the category entirely. Baehr met those goals.
The objectives she did not substantially meet included: increasing promotion percentage, attendance rate and reading proficiency at the Freshman Academy, and increasing the reading scores for students in grades three to eight who are reading substantially below grade level. Baehr made progress in both of those categories, but not enough to get the bonus. She did receive a pay raise of 4 percent for her largely positive performance evaluation.

We applaud Baehr and the School Committee for placing real accountability measures into her contract and hope it is inspires the committee to push for similar standards in the department's union contracts.

Although she is at the top of the organizational chart, Baehr shouldn't be the only employee held accountable for the department's successes and failures. Every administrator, teacher and staff member should have measurable objectives and should be reviewed with those goals in mind. Why should every member of the same union receive the same pay increase? Shouldn't those who meet or exceed expectations receive greater increases than those who failed to achieve predetermined objectives?

A pilot program started last year in Denver is already seeing rewards. The teachers' union there is working with officials to make sure incentive pay and bonuses, given in addition to standard salary increases, are parceled out fairly. New teachers are required to participate and, seeing a chance for additional pay, nearly half of the system's veteran educators have also signed on. That's a good sign.

We think Lowell should consider instituting a similar program. Baehr's performance objectives could be considered a stepping stone in the path toward increased accountability for all School Department employees.

Posted by Admin at September 26, 2007 12:15 PM