September 6, 2011 – Globe Gazette
Iowa Proposes Four Tiered Compensation Model 

Iowa public school teachers would move to four-tiered compensation based on how they perform in the classroom as part of the state’s education reform package expected to be released this fall.  Key among the ideas is doing away with the current system that pays teachers more based on how long they’ve been in the profession and what degrees they’ve obtained  in favor of a system of apprentice, career, mentor and master teachers.  Under the proposal, teachers would start as apprentice teachers at $40,000 a year — compared with a minimum of $28,000 per year now— and serve as apprentices until they can prove themselves as a career teacher. Then they would get a boost to about $50,000 a year. Career teachers could then become mentor teachers or master teachers if they take on extra responsibility, but master and mentor designations would be limited to about one-quarter of a district’s teachers.