State tightens rules on teachers getting paid for advanced degrees

Summary blurb

New Rule Includes Grandfather Clause

By D. Aileen Dodd

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia teachers seeking quickie degrees at substandard colleges or in fields that won’t earn them certification no longer will be able to turn that off-the-clock labor into a financial windfall.

The Georgia Professional Standards Commission Wednesday closed the public purse on teachers getting advanced degrees that they can’t use in the classroom -- a change that could save the state millions of dollars spent on teacher upgrades.

When the new rule takes effect, which officials said should be in one to two months, an advanced degree in interior design for a math teacher won’t equate to a pay raise.

“We are paying for degrees and certificates that people are not using,” said Gary Walker, director of the state's educator ethics division. “A lot of people will go grab a leadership degree from some of those colleges that don’t require a whole lot of work. They are staying in the classroom but they are getting paid for a degree in leadership.’’

The state of Georgia spends $800 million a year paying teachers for advanced degrees. The average salary bump for a new degree is $6,500.

About $68 million is spent on unused leadership degrees, state officials said.

“Georgia was about third in the nation in terms of how much it paid for advanced degrees,” said Rick Eiserman, the commission's director of policy and communications. “In the past you could get a master's degree in rock climbing from just about any university and we would pay an increase in your salary. There was no consideration on what your job was. We are not sure what the return on investment was.”

New rule promotes teacher quality

Kelly Henson, executive secretary of the commission, said the new “certification upgrade” rule is not a money-driven strategy to save slim education dollars for classrooms; it is a matter of promoting teacher quality.

“The new rule will not keep educators from getting advanced degrees nor will it keep them from getting pay raises for advanced degrees,” Henson said. “It requires that the degrees be relevant and that it be in a field for which we offer a certificate. The rule also requires that the degree be from an institution that meets high but reasonable standards relating to quality.”

Tim Callahan, spokesman for the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, said the rule seems “fair” and that enough advance warning has been given to educators. But Callahan said some teachers may not agree with the new rule.

“There are going to be some differing opinions," Callahan said. "Some people are going to think it's important to get higher degrees and it's important to be paid for them.”

Not all agree with new rule

Raymond Yody Jr., a teacher for 10 years, wrote the commission disagreeing with the new rule.

“Limiting educators to earning higher degrees that are closely aligned with their current fields of certification restricts them from the option of growing and developing as professionals," Yody said. "Many educators wish to earn their advanced degrees early in their career so that later in their tenure they may focus on family during their free time. Requiring them to decide at one point what they will do for the rest of their career is a step backward from where Georgia currently is.’’

However, Brandy Walker, an educator for 11 years who has taught high school and college students, said the new rule “makes total sense.”

“The degree should be relevant, otherwise it doesn’t make any sense to be compensated for it,” said Walker, who is studying for a doctorate.

Teachers seeking advanced degrees in areas they are already certified in will still be compensated.

Degrees outside their certificate areas will only earn pay raises if that advanced degree results in the addition of a new certificate and the program is state-approved, sanctioned by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education or the Teacher Education Accreditation Council.

Advanced degrees in a field in which the teacher already is certified must be approved by the Carnegie Classification of Research Universities.

“We do feel like there have been instances in which the degree either hasn’t been relevant or we do have some questions about the quality and or rigor of the degree,” Henson said.