By Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. – It was hailed as a breakthrough when the bargain was struck: Top-performing teachers in Newark could get bigger paychecks.
The provision in a 2012 contract struck between the state-run school district and the Newark Teachers Union was the first of its kind in New Jersey. It was made possible because of a large donation from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg intended to improve education in the city.
But three years later, the contract has expired, and the new president of the union local says that it hasn’t worked and that it’s not a sure thing the union will agree to keep the provision in its current form.
Several teachers said that they had problems with the contract and that the merit pay hadn’t worked, though no one was willing to speak on the record for fear of reprisals.
[…]John Abeigon became president of the Newark Teachers Union this year. Abeigon said the merit pay had not lived up to the hopes, or hype. It awarded just under $1.5 million to 233 teachers last year; they received an average of $6,000 each.
“It’s more a failure than it is a success,” Abeigon said. “In little pockets, it’s a success.”
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