Kevin Carey raises a point about Master’s degrees.  The purpose of the Master’s degree is to provide a teacher with appropriate professional development.  The effort to achieve this development and the results from it are what justify the increase in compensation that teachers typically accrue from it.  Although I think you can take the argument too far, I agree with Carey that there is evidence that the Master’s is an imperfect instrument in this regard. But it is part of an accountability compact of sorts. When we tweak it, we need to bear that in mind.  So you won’t see me saying let's dump the degree to use it on health insurance payments or straight compensation instead.  That would be a tremendous political trap. And it’s just a good idea to try to link pay to professional development.

The other day I wrote that the creation of a three tiered teacher pay system in New Mexico was one of the recent education policy accomplishments in the Land of Enchantment.  Under this program a teacher’s pay status is based on whether they have an introductory license (Level I), a professional (Level II) license or an advanced license (Level III).  All teachers have to move from the introductory level to the professional level in three years. This is roughly akin to passing probation, except that it is based on successful completion of both a mentoring program and a professional development dossier that is based on the teacher’s professional development plan.

Teachers at the professional level can choose to maintain their license or to move on to Level III after a certain number of years.  It's true that a master’s degree can be a part of that process, but teachers can use National Board certification as a substitute for the Masters Degree. And there is also another professional development dossier that must be completed.  It’s a new compensation system that allows new teachers to advance more quickly and does more to link advancement to the teacher’s specific professional development needs than the traditional system.  You never need a Master’s degree, although you could still gain benefits from pursuing one. We’ve been pretty vocal in our support for this plan in large part because it links advancement to meaningful professional development.  If you want to look at ways AFT has worked to move beyond the Master’s, I’d suggest that this is one.