Newark teachers will be paid on merit, giving teachers who ace their evaluations bonuses of up to $12,500, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and President of the American Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten announced on Morning Joe on Friday morning.
“We all decided we needed to do something different,” Christie said. Newark schools serve 37,000 students but have struggled to attract and keep good teachers. The AFT represents Newark’s public school teachers.
The contract will provide $5,000 bonuses for teachers rated “highly effective,” with $12,500 bonuses set aside for “highly effective” math and science teachers in the most troubled schools.
Unions have long protested tying teacher pay to performance, but teachers’ grades will include peer evaluations from their colleagues, which aims to make a fair deal. “Newark teachers have more of a voice than they’ve ever had before,” Weingarten said. “This is a dynamic new contract that’s fair to the teachers and most importantly, good to the kids,” she added.








