House and Senate GOP leaders and the House and Senate education committee chairmen met with state schools Supt. Tom Luna this afternoon to discuss areas of agreement on Luna’s “iSTARS” teacher performance pay plan. The outcome, according to House Assistant Majority Leader Scott Bedke, was that Luna’s proposal for so-called “Category 4 contracts,” in which teachers would give up their continuing contract rights in exchange for higher pay, is dead. “The Category 4 thing is not going anywhere this year, in a pilot project or otherwise, in my opinion,” Bedke said after the meeting. He said he and others are still holding out hope for some kind of bill this year, but that its price tag will be a key issue, what with concerns over state revenues.

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