Riley Proposes Quality Schools Plan

Incentives to encourage teachers to improve their skills, better teacher pay, and an end to emergency teacher licenses are features of a report called “Promising Practices” released by U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley.

The report contains proposals to recruit new teachers, train new teachers in technology, and improve teacher education and standards.

Riley called for higher standards and pay for teachers through a “knowledge and skill-based pay” plan involving incentives to encourage teachers to improve their skills.

“Teachers are paid extra for new skills and knowledge they acquire,” Riley told a Washington, D. C. audience. “Teachers under this system get rewarded for specific skills and knowledge that help a school reach its own established goals.”

Riley called for higher teacher salaries in order to entice new teachers into the field and to justify asking teachers to meet higher standards.

Riley is also calling on states and school districts to stop granting emergency teacher licenses as a way to address teacher shortages. Riley said too many districts are “sacrificing quality for quantity in order to meet the immediate demands of putting a warm body in front of a classroom.” He also called for an end to “teaching out of field.”

For more information, see the U.S. Department of Education Web site.

Posted September 18, 1998