Teacher Bonus Shock
August 29, 2008
New York Post
In roughly 40 schools out of 205 participating in the first-year bonus program, teachers will be paid for their contribution to their students’ success, a merit-pay approach Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has advocated but the teachers union has slammed.
Despite having the option of splitting the bonus money equally among staffers so each would get $3,000, a four-person committee at PS 132 in The Bronx chose to split it unevenly, ranging from $200 to $5,000, according to Principal Anissa Chalmers.
“Instead of awarding money based on title, we began to award money based on impact on individual student achievement,” she said.
Teachers at one of the schools that had opted into the program, MS 246 in Brooklyn’s Flatbush section, were so deadlocked that they ultimately had to forfeit the extra cash.
William Slotnik, director of a Massachusetts-based organization that studies teacher compensation, said the division among teachers is surprising.
“Usually on an effort like this, the first go-round normally gets divided equally based on the number of positions,” he said. “It’s less controversial, it builds a better sense of harmony, and it’s safer for all involved.”
Because of remarkable gains in student test scores this year, most of the schools that participated in the privately funded, $20 million program are expected to meet their targets.