The federal grant competition known as Race to the Top required winning states like Georgia to pay teachers according to their performance, rather than just by length of service. But the state’s plans for performance pay are coming under close scrutiny from all sides.

Georgia is developing a pay scale that will give teachers raises and bonuses based on new evaluations, which will judge educators in part by how much they raise students’ test scores.

But some question whether the state has the wherewithal to completely implement the plan. Others worry the new pay scale might not deliver results even if it’s fully executed. Tim Callahan of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators says it’s not clear that performance-based salary scales actually improve student outcomes.

"And in fact, the research that we do have shows exactly the opposite," Callahan says. "The Vanderbilt study that was done and the RAND corporation study that was done in New York City indicates that there is no difference in student achievement when merit and incentive pay is brought into the picture."

It’s a model that is being used across the country; but some early adopters are dropping their programs.

In Texas, officials recently abandoned the country’s largest performance pay program because of budget constraints. And New York City dropped its program after a research study reported it had minimal impact on student achievement.

But Steve Dollinger of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education says that the plan has the potential to improve teaching.

"Part of our challenge in education, people in either side of an issue can hold up research to support their claim because there usually is some research on either side," Dollinger says. "So I think we’ve made a decision here in Georgia is that it’s worth it for us to try. Hopefully, bottom line is that will improve student achievement."

The 26 school districts that signed onto the state’s Race to the Top plan – plus 10 more that have volunteered – will be the first to pilot the performance pay plan. State officials say if that’s successful, the program will be implemented in all districts across the state.