Vol. 19, No. 2 - Winter 2003

The cost of teacher professionalism

The problem with many efforts to turn troubled schools around is that the initial funding usually comes in the form of a grant. When the grant money dries up, often so too do the programs it funded.

Almost from the outset, the professional practice school at Henry faced funding problems. When current principal Paul McMahan arrived, he vowed to look within the school’s annual budget to make the program work, noting that the program “can’t survive if professional development is seen as an ‘extra’ that can be cut in the event of a shortfall.” He has gradually weaned the program away from outside funds and sticks to “hard local dollars” to keep it sustainable.

How residents and mentors are funded:

When the program began, resident teachers were paid about two-thirds of a teaching salary, which made the residency—although appealing on a professional level—too financially limiting for some.

Today resident teachers earn a full salary, but only cost the school their “actual” salary. Minneapolis Public Schools is a site-based system where each school determines staffing requirements and its own budget. The district charges schools a set amount for each teacher—around $70,000 for salary and benefits—regardless of the teacher’s education or experience.

Through an arrangement with the district and the union, Henry uses the difference between each resident’s actual salary and the standard district salary (from $30,000 to $45,000 per resident) to fund many professional development costs, such as release time for residents, their mentors, program coordinators, and teachers seeking National Board Certification.

How the Patrick Henry Instructional Leaders are funded:

In Minneapolis, most high schools have a principal and three assistant principals—positions that are costly to a school. Two years ago McMahan asked the district to “cash in” two of Henry’s assistant principal positions in order to use the associated funds to support a unique leadership model with teachers using release time from the classroom to perform much of the school’s administrative duties.

Out of this change came the development of the Patrick Henry Instructional Leaders, a group of five teacher/administrators who each focus on a particular area of administration while maintaining a limited teaching schedule. This group of teachers takes an active role in the running of the school, while carrying out important functions that are often overlooked by over-worked administrators.