Pennsylvania public school, graduate credit & tuition reimbursement
From Sunshine Review
The impact of graduate degrees and graduate course credits on teacher salaries is substantial, although less than seniority.
Evidence has disclosed that graduate credits, particularly in areas unrelated to a teacher’s subject-matter field, are at best weakly correlated with better teaching.[1] Yet virtually all districts not only pay higher salaries for graduate credits but also subsidize the acquisition through tuition reimbursement clauses in union contracts.[2]
[edit] Negotiable issues relating to credits and tuition reimbursement
During contract negotiations between school boards and teacher unions, the following issues are “negotiable,” meaning that they can be decided at the bargaining table, rather than set by law or regulation.
- How much extra pay for graduate credits will be awarded at various steps of the district salary schedule.
- How many graduate credit-hours will lead to pay increases prior to the award of an advanced degree. Extra pay for earned master’s degrees is standard practice, but other contract terms vary. For example, a contract may have “bachelor’s +24” as pay point between a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, or “master’s +20” for post-master’s work, whether or not the teacher is working toward a second graduate degree.
- Level of tuition reimbursement. Reimbursement for 100% of tuition costs is common, sometimes with reimbursement of supplemental expenses (e.g., fees and textbooks). The level of reimbursement may be actual tuition at any accredited institution or may be limited by reference to some other standard (e.g., the prevailing tuition rate at a state university).
- Payback requirements for teachers who take other jobs soon after receiving tuition reimbursement. A contract may allow teachers to move to new school districts (or leave teaching altogether) without having to refund tuition reimbursements from their former districts. Or the contract may set a payback formula – e.g., 100% if the move coincides with the completion of the course work, 75% if it occurs one year later, 50% if it occurs two years later.
- Eligibility of credit-granting institutions. Contracts may limit reimbursement to graduate institutions meeting some standard of accreditation. For example, not all institutions offering graduate courses beyond the bachelor’s level actually do so as part of an advanced degree program.
- Eligibility of online courses. Teacher unions tend to oppose cyberschooling for students at elementary and secondary levels, but they like it for their members. Numerous institutions advertise on the Internet that their courses are designed to satisfy teachers’ demands for rapid credit acquisition with modest investments in time. It can be difficult to determine the extent to which they are offering only flexibility or are merely “degree mills.”
- Number of reimbursable credit hours reimbursable during a given time period. Because it is in the financial interest of teachers to earn a master’s degree as fast as possible, board negotiators may negotiate provisions designed to prevent teachers’ earning credits at the expense of their teaching duties for the district employing them.
[edit] Transparency issues
Few school districts publish statistical data on how quickly teachers move laterally across salary scales based on graduate work, still less on how much of the movement is based on coursework at institutions known to be minimally rigorous. As a transparency issue, however, it is appropriate for districts to publish how they address pay-for-credits and tuition reimbursement issues, and to publish any changes they or union negotiators may propose.[citation needed]
One of the studies cited above comments:
A number of studies have addressed the link between teachers’ graduate degrees and student learning. In most cases, they find that having a master’s degree is unrelated to student achievement. The handful of studies that find significant links find both positive and negative effects. Thus the overall effect of graduate education on teacher productivity is likely close to zero.[1]
