CMS board hears the case for revamping teacher pay and licensing

A leader of North Carolina’s quest to revamp teacher pay and licensure briefed a Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board committee on the “Pathways to Excellence” plan Monday.

Van Dempsey, dean of UNC Wilmington’s college of education, chairs a panel created to review pay and licensure. He told the CMS board’s intergovernmental relations committee the changes are needed to replace a fragmented and unpredictable system.

He said the state needs better support for the growing number of teachers who don’t come through traditional university pathways, along with recognition and rewards for experienced teachers who can coach them.

“What we’re doing is not a licensure model,” said Dempsey, who is looking for school districts willing to pilot the new approach. “It’s a professional pathways model that includes licensure.”

Dempsey’s group has been working on the challenge for two years. The “Pathways to Excellence” plan has been controversial since officials went public with it last spring.

The North Carolina Association of Educators opposes it, and in December the state Board of Education voted to slow-walk statewide changes and ask the General Assembly for permission to pilot the program with districts that volunteer. Dempsey said the Board of Education will take up the matter again in March, then seek funding and authorization from the General Assembly.

While the CMS board’s virtual meeting with Dempsey streamed on Facebook, several teachers posted questions and skeptical comments in the chat. The board plans to schedule a follow-up meeting to hear from members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators next week.

Stephanie Sneed, vice chair of the CMS board and chair of the intergovernmental committee, asked what the state will look for in pilot districts.

“There should be geographic diversity, there should be size and scale diversity, small counties, large counties. There should be urban/suburban/rural diversity,” Dempsey said.

Last week Union County Superintendent Andrew Houlihan tweeted that his district will not be part of the pilot because he does not think it will help recruit or retain teachers.