This morning Charlotte Mecklenburg’s School Superintendent Peter Gorman made headlines with his State of the Schools annual report: 2014 Strategic Plan, Teaching Our Way to the Top. He first acknowledged the positives and negatives of the current state of affairs. In 2008-09, CMS out scored Wake County?s students classified as ?Economically Disadvantaged? (ED); also CMS?s Black students outscored the state and Wake County! Never mind the fact that CMS has TWICE the number of students classified as ED. Gorman spent a good bit of time discussing the tragedy of how one third of students will not earn a high school diploma. However, he disregarded the fact of ?Non-Economically Disadvantaged? (NED) CMS students performing poorer than the rest of the state, and Wake County. Seems while the emphasis on the lower income students has produced a benefit, it also came as a detriment to the NED student.
He correctly acknowledged the most important factor in student achievement rests on quality teaching. He then took it to the next level by stating certification, and the number of years teaching does not equate to ?quality teaching.?  However, the state?s pay schedule is directly linked to those two factors.  Gorman?s solution:  Pay for performance.  The issues he addressed are right on target, but regulations from Raleigh and DPI tie his hands.  However, Guilford County has already begun this process.  Interesting that the Superintendent in Guilford County used to be the legal assistant to Peter Gorman.  Now these two systems will be working (at least behind the scenes) to accomplish what needed to happen in government schools YEARS ago. 
Hopefully the State Board of Education, and the General Assembly will follow this leadership and provide more flexible dollars for implementation, and flexibility for certification.