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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Changes may be on the way to Harrison School District 2. The school board has given the administration the OK to continue working toward a draft policy to change how teachers are paid.

Currently administrators in the district are working on a "pay for performance" blueprint.

The pay scale would hinge on teacher performance and student achievement.

Traditionally, pay has been based on a teacher's education and tenure.

Under the new plan there would no longer be a teacher salary schedule, but rather nine levels of performance that a teacher's salary would instead be based on.

"I think across the nation the sentiment is that teachers should be paid more. That is number one, but two is teachers should be paid more if they are doing a great job, and those that are not doing a great job and getting results should not be paid as much," said Mike Miles, superintendent of District 2.

Miles said teachers will be assessed in two different categories: 1) performance and 2) student achievement.

He said their pay will not be solely based on CSAP scores.

"We are not just looking at one test score. We know that is not very reliable to just look at one piece of data. You have to look at multiple measures," Miles said.

He said poor-performing teachers will not receive pay cuts as a result of the plan, but he is hoping incentives will bring out their best.

"We think over time the poor-performing teachers, if they are poor performing, we will either remediate them or they will leave the system," Miles said.

Teachers in the district have had mixed reaction according to Miles who said most are looking forward to the pay raise, but are also concerned about the fairness of the system.

"I think the talk has shifted from should we have a pay for performance plan to how can we ensure the cut points are right and the achievement data is correct -- those sorts of things," Miles said.

Ultimately Miles said he hopes to not just increase teacher pay but overall student performance and achievement.

If the plan becomes official, Harrison District 2 would be the first district in the state to implement such a model.

The district would end a separate incentive pay program to pay for the new plan.

The school board still has to pass a teacher compensation policy.

The district hopes to implement the new pay scale before the 2010-2011 school year.

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