| Notes |
ERS supported Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) during their 2014-15 teacher contract negotiations and provided tools and resources to help the district evolve their human capital strategy in the future.
IPS sought a contract that would comply with a new state law restricting pay for education credits and experience, would fit within current budget constraints, and prove sustainable over time.
District Facts
Students: 31,999
Total Staff: 2,160
Work Focus
ERS worked with IPS leadership to prepare for contract negotiations with the Indianapolis Education Association (IEA) held in August and September 2014, and provided tools and resources to continue transformation in the future:
Support for Negotiations: Analyzed current workforce and compensation spending patterns, projected costs and savings for various compensation strategies, and advised on compensation and career path strategies based on our experience with peer districts
Data Inventory: Examined how well IPS’ existing data infrastructure enables strategic planning and management of teaching talent, and gave recommendations for how to make it more effective in the future
Policy Analysis and Recommendations: Reviewed district and state policies and practices to identify those that support or inhibit strategic changes to resource use
Compensation Model: Provided the district an Excel model which will allow them to analyze the cost or savings from new contract provisions in the future
Findings and Outcomes
In the fall of 2014, IPS and its teachers’ union signed a new contract that is fiscally sustainable, meets legislative mandates, and is aligned to the district’s vision. Under the new contract, effectiveness is a minimum threshold for increases in pay, thus freeing resources from ineffective teaching to other priorities. And teachers have the opportunity to be compensated more quickly for their contributions, rather than waiting for their salary to increase year-by-year. Taken together, we believe the contract provisions direct resources more strategically towards effective teaching and student success. Some key provisions are:
"Experience steps" tied to effectiveness: All effective and highly effective teachers will continue to receive step increases in salary (in years when steps are available). The savings from withholding step increases for ineffective and improvement-needed teachers will be invested in other aspects of the compensation system (e.g. leadership roles)
Elimination of education pay: IPS will no longer pay additional compensation to teachers for earning advanced degrees. The change will generate annual savings that can be reinvested in other parts of the compensation system. Teachers who earned advanced degrees prior to the 2014-15 school year will not be affected.
New leadership roles for teachers: Teachers can now receive up to $5,000 more per year for taking on new responsibility, such as a teacher-leader role within their school.
Loyalty stipend for most returning IPS teachers: All teachers rated effective or highly effective in 2013-2014 received a one-time loyalty bonus of $1,500 in 2014-2015.
Flexibility to hire new teachers at the appropriate level of pay: IPS will be able to hire new teachers to priority schools or high-needs areas at up to three salary steps higher than their experience would suggest.
Under this new system, for example, a teacher rated as “ineffective” in 2013-14 would not be eligible for a salary increase in 2014-15, while a teacher rated “effective” would receive a $1,500 bonus, and could receive another $2,500 for taking on a leadership role in the second half of the year. This could equate to a combined increase of nearly 8%—much higher than the typical 1-2% across the board raises often seen in districts.
Because of the tools and resources ERS provided IPS, the district will be able to make more data-driven, vision-aligned decisions in the future:
Policy Analysis and Recommendations: For example, our review of district and state policies found that the contract negotiations timeline in IPS may make it difficult to implement transformative changes. We also highlighted how state policy may handicap IPS’ ability to close or consolidate schools, impacting their ability to reduce the high costs of under-enrolled schools.
Data Inventory: ERS’ review of IPS’ data systems found several opportunities for improvement, such as in linkages between data systems, the timeline for data collection, and the overall structure and usability of IPS’ raw data.
Compensation model: In future negotiations, IPS will be able to model out the effects of different compensation strategies such as stipends for teachers at high-needs schools, raising base salary, or establishing leadership roles. |