School administrators and principals in Lakewood Public Schools will have their performance tied to compensation, a first for this district and a rarity in Jersey. The Asbury Park Press reports that principals of schools that meet annual state standards will pick up an extra $3,000 and assistant principals will garner $2,000.
The agreement came from recent contract negotiations, which also include annual salary increases of 1.9%, 2.5%, and 3.15% over the next three years. These percentages are lower than typically seen in the state, and certainly less than the administrators’ union’s proposal of 4.5%.
It’s hard to say how easily this victory for accountability will be duplicated. Lakewood is its own (kosher) animal, as the district has a high percentage of Orthodox Jews who send their kids to private yeshivas and, in some cases, also serve on the public school board. (A recent Friday night meeting was truncated so that members could get home in time for the Jewish sabbath.) The typical union politics that might impede this sort of heretical compensation arrangement may be weaker on this Ocean County board, but it’s a handy precedent much in sync with Race To The Top priorities.
