Among the drastic changes planned for Nevada’s K-12 education system — ranked at the bottom of the nation for high school graduation — few strike a nerve like a plan to stop paying higher salaries to teachers with advanced degrees and switch to a pay-for-performance model.
The bill reflects a growing nationwide movement toward performance pay; it’s based on research that shows an advanced degree seldom leads to increased student achievement at the elementary school level, and only sometimes increases it in high school classrooms.
“We’re 50th in the nation,” said Assemblyman Ira Hansen, R-Sparks. “We need radical surgery.”