Tulsa World

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Merit pay a boon for some

teachers at Epic Charter
School, not for others
By Jennifer Palmer
Oklahoma Watch

Teachers at Epic Charter

Schools are some of the highest
paid in the state. They are also
some of the lowest paid in the
state.
The wide variations in teacher
compensation at the states larg-
est online charter school are due
to an unconventional program
that allows teachers to earn a
bonus of up to their base salary,
which would double their pay.
So a teacher earning $35,000,
for instance, can earn an annual
bonus of up to $35,000, pushing
total pay to $70,000.
Bonus pay allowed more than
half of Epics 218 certied teach-
ers to earn well above the average
pay for public school teachers,
according to Oklahoma Depart-
ment of Education data for 2015-
16. But for some, the gamble
didnt pay off; they earned little
or no bonus and their total
compensation was less than the
minimum salary required in tra-
ditional public schools.
Meanwhile, Epic, which en-
rolled more than 9,000 students
in pre-K through 12 this year

See Watch, page A3

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 Tulsa World
Mar
04
Watch: Charter school tries experimental pay scale
2017 From page A1
Page and is now the states 14th larg-
est school system, has average
A003 to low school grades and hasnt
seen signicant improvement in
Clip student achievement.
resized Epic has been using this mod-
42% el of performance pay also
known as merit pay since it
opened in 2011, an experiment in
From teacher compensation conduct-
A001 ed using state per-pupil funds,
which all charter schools receive.
(Epics) pay performance
model is one we feel like works,
and is allowing us to attract
some of the most talented teach-
ers, said Bart Baneld, assistant
superintendent of instruction for
Epic.
Merit pay, which rewards
teachers for test scores and other
student outcomes, is relatively
rare in Oklahoma, education
groups say. Nationally, it is also
uncommon, with just 3.5 percent
of schools offering it, according
to a 2011 report from the now-
defunct National Center on Per-
formance Incentives.
Charter schools are well-suited
to experiment with merit pay
because their teachers dont typi-
cally belong to unions and the
schools dont have to follow the
minimum salaries set by the Leg-
islature.
Some studies have found that
performance-pay systems, espe-
cially those using standardized
test scores, dont improve stu-
dent performance.
High risk, high reward
Public school teachers in
Oklahoma are among the low-
est paid in the country, earning
an average of $44,921, includ-
ing benets, according to the
National Education Association.
The minimum starting salary
for teachers in Oklahoma with a
bachelors degree is $31,600, in-
cluding benets.
Epic pays its full-time teach-
ers an average of $61,200, which
includes base pay, benets, travel
stipends and bonus pay. The
schools highest paid teacher
made $92,890 in 2015-16.
At the other end of the pay
scale, nearly 30 of Epics 132 full-
time teachers earned below the
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
cipals monthly, Baneld said,
and are evaluated regularly us-
ing metrics the school has devel-
oped. Low-performing teachers
are directed to online training
videos to improve their craft,
and rst-year teachers are rarely
terminated, giving them time to
adjust to Epics model, he said.
When asked for evidence that
performance pay is improving
student performance, Baneld
cited Epics growth in enrollment
and internal benchmarks on aca-
demic growth.
On 2016 state report cards,
Epics elementary and middle
school earned a D+, pushed
above the F threshold by a per-
fect attendance rate that has
Epic teacher Katie Biswell reads to students Corinne Schulte, 7 (left); Juliet raised questions among state of-
Schulte, 8; and Luke Schulte, 5, at the public library in Sapulpa on Friday. cials. A state lawmaker recently
Biswell earned nearly $40,000 working part time for Epic in 2015-16. Of that, led legislation to address the
nearly $16,000 was bonus pay and stipends.CLIFTON ADCOCK/Oklahoma Watch issue.
Epics high school received a C,
with low marks for student per-
state average in 2015-16, data least (about the school)?, three formance in math and science.
show. of the concerned teachers re- Just 19 percent of students took
Teachers traditionally see their sponded: a college entrance exam, such
pay increase as they spend more :k[bmkZkrgZmnk^h_hnk\hf- as the ACT, and only a quarter
years in the classroom or earn pensation plan. Bonus structure graduated a rate slightly lower
an advanced degree. Epic uses is a positive and a negative. It than in 2015.
neither to determine a teachers provides an added stress that L\ahhe h\bZel aZo^ ehg`
salary. Epic teachers base pay is may be unnecessary. railed against the state A-F report
$1,000 per regular student and  Ma^ [hgnl l\a^]ne^ bl cards, saying they unfairly grade
$1,500 per special education stu- complicated, and when admin- Epic for accepting enrollments
dent. istrators share specic data per- all year and taking students who
The bonuses, paid out three taining to it, they dont clearly are close to dropping out.
times a year, are based on three explain it (data overload.) Epic instead points to students
components: standardized test-  Bml ]b\nem mh `^m \eZk- performance on end-of-year ex-
ing participation and perfor- ity with bonus payouts. It some- ams. In 2015-16, 88 percent of
mance, and whether students re- times takes months to have a Epic students were procient in
turn to the school the next year, response to an email when in- English II, better than the state
or retention. quiring about a bonus calcula- average of 82 percent. In math,
Teacher Kristi Rich, in her tion error. We need some trans- however, Epic students fared
eighth year of teaching and sixth parency when it comes to bonus worse than the state average,
year with Epic, earned more payout. with 61 percent procient in Al-
than $83,000 in 2015-16. gebra I, versus 78 percent state-
If Im going to go the extra Measuring success wide.
mile, it will result in my fami- Tara Cameron, who has twin
lies wanting to stay on my ros- The most important question second-graders and an eighth-
ter, Rich said. It will result in about merit pay is whether it grader in Epic this year, wasnt
my students performing well on works by improving the academ- aware her childrens teachers
their testing. It will result in high ic success of kids. were eligible for bonuses based
performance, and my pay is as- Teachers are often opposed to partially on how well her chil-
sociated with that. pay that relies on student test dren score on standardized tests.
A handful of teachers, respond- performance because there are But she has become frustrated
ing to a recent performance re- so many variables they have no with what she said is the schools
view conducted by the state Of- control over, said Mary Sue Back- emphasis on practice tests in-
ce of Educational Quality and us, a University of Oklahoma law stead of curriculum to introduce
Accountability, raised concerns professor. students to new concepts.
about the plan. The agency sur- Its not always a fair measure Its been such a frustrating
veyed more than 100 Epic staff of whether someone is a good year because that (testing) is all
members on a variety of topics. teacher or not, she said. theyve cared about, Cameron
When asked, What do you like Epics teachers meet with prin- said.
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Sapulpa Daily Herald

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