At least four Colorado school districts have started merit-pay systems, including Denver, Harrison, Douglas and Eagle County.
Denver Public Schools’ incentive-based system, called the Professional Compensation System or ProComp, is supported by a $25 million mill levy. Teachers who are hired are immediately enrolled in ProComp; veterans must opt in to the system that gives teachers a variety of bonuses and incentives.
Teachers get bonuses if their students perform higher than expected on standardized tests, if they met student growth objectives and if their school is a top performer on the district performance ranking or has a high growth score.
Teachers also get about $2,400 for choosing to work in hard-to-serve schools that have high levels of poverty or if they teach hard-to-staff subjects, such as math or special education. Jeremy P. Meyer, The Denver Post
