Atlanta school board members are rethinking CEO-style bonus pay for superintendents, following reports of widespread cheating that raised questions about whether bonuses collected by former chief Beverly Hall were earned fairly.
Based on student performance on standardized tests, Hall collected more than $580,000 in bonuses above her annual pay in the 12 years she worked for Atlanta Public Schools. But the bonus system made some board members uncomfortable -- they felt Hall had too much control over what her goals would be, and they had no way of verifying how the results were achieved.
Erroll Davis took over in July as superintendent, but the board hasn't decided how he will be evaluated. Those discussions will take place in November, and the board hopes to have performance goals in place by the end of the year, said Brenda Muhammad, chairwoman.
"I think one of the main things we need to consider is are we going to offer reward incentives for meeting goals. That has been a bone of contention," Muhammad said.
Hall could earn additional compensation up to 30 percent of her base salary depending on whether the district met a series of academic goals. By the time Hall left the district, her regular pay and benefits equaled more than $332,000 annually.
Hall's bonus pay was not unique nationally. However, performance pay for superintendents is uncommon in other metro Atlanta school districts, even though many school chiefs are new to the job.
Gwinnett's Alvin Wilbanks and Cherokee's Frank Petruzielo do not receive performance bonuses. Fulton County did not respond by deadline to requests about new Superintendent Robert Avossa.
DeKalb hasn't worked out evaluation goals with new school chief Cheryl Atkinson, who started about a month ago, but there is no language in her contract involving performance pay. The same goes for Cobb's Michael Hinojosa, who started this summer.
Hinojosa's annual goals are broad, and they touch on student achievement, finance and high school redesign. Cobb school board chairwoman Alison Bartlett said the board didn't opt to include performance bonuses.
"I believe superintendents have tremendous power to make a difference," she said, "but if you make test scores the only judge, you set yourself up for failure and the kind of corruption APS has realized."
About 20 percent of superintendents across the country had performance contracts, according to a 2005 study by the American Association of School Administrators. The bulk of those were tied to student test scores. Researchers expect that number is higher now as the appetite to link test data and evaluations increases.
Gary Ray, president of Ray and Associates, a top superintendent recruitment firm, sees a movement toward performance pay, but said boards should be careful to set realistic annual goals. He advises boards to consider retention bonuses to reward and encourage superintendents to stay, rather than test-score-driven incentives.
"If I am paying you $300,000 a year, you should be able to raise test scores," he said. "Pay them a good salary up front and hold them accountable."
Hall's bonus structure was an extension of the performance-pay plan set up to encourage academic gains at the school level. For more than a decade under Hall's leadership, educators and support staff whose schools showed improvement could earn $250-$2,000 in bonus checks. Hall earned a $78,115 bonus in 2008-09, when suspicions about APS test scores surfaced. That was the last year she took a bonus.
In July, state investigators released a report that documented cheating at 44 schools. They said the pressure to meet unrealistic academic goals was partly to blame.
In Georgia and nationally, there is a movement toward measuring student academic growth and using the data to evaluate, and pay, teachers.
Verdaillia Turner, president of the Georgia Federation of Teachers and the Atlanta chapter, said teachers should not have to compete against one another for top test scores to boost salary.
"We are not trying to support the status quo, but we would not support merit pay for the superintendent and we do not support it when it comes to teachers," she said.
Davis, the new superintendent, wants to eliminate the district's $1.3 million a year performance-pay program, citing concerns about the data. But district spokesman Keith Bromery said Davis hasn't made any decisions about his evaluation. Davis earns $240,000 in addition to perks. His contract expires June 30, 2012, with the option to renegotiate on or before Dec. 31.
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