Newark Teachers Approve Merit Pay Contract

Randi never had to helicopter in and sell the Newark teachers on a second contract vote because they approved it the first time around:

The 4,700-member Newark Teachers Union approved the state’s first teacher contract that offers bonuses based on classroom performance.

The three-year pact, which will award merit pay to teachers who earn ratings of "highly effective," was approved by a vote of 1767 to 1088 after a day in which educators lined up at union headquarters to cast ballots.

The contract would be the first in the state, and one of the first in the nation, to base teacher pay on classroom performance, including student progress.

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 The contract uses the new four-tier teacher rating system that is being ushered in across the state. It includes a 13.9 percent salary increase over three years for those who are rated "effective," with additional merit bonuses on top of that for those rated "highly effective."

Here's what two teachers who voted against this sell out contract said:

Laura Ferreira, a third grade teachers at South Street School, said she believes merit bonuses will be impossible to attain, and the contract would set a bad precedent for the state. "It’s going to be so difficult you’re never going to see the bonuses," she said.

Special education teacher Erica Green said she also voted "no."

"It’s going to be hard as heck to attain effective," she said. "And I’ve been a teacher for 14 years. A hard-working teacher.”

I agree with those two.

Newark teachers union - the anti-CTU.