Des Moines, Iowa (RI) — The governor’s government efficiency task force is considering 45 recommendations, including a plan to link the salaries for educators in Iowa’s public schools to student achievement. Former Fort Dodge Mayor Terry Lutz, a member of the task force, says a pay-for-performance system would reward what matters.
Fourteen years ago, Governor Terry Branstad proposed a merit pay system for teachers that would have used student test scores as one criterion for pay raises. Lutz says finally linking pay to student performance is about accountability.
Through a combination of federal, state, and local funding for public K-through-12 schools, spending per student is over 18 thousand dollars. Lutz says that is higher than the national median…