Changes for teacher bonus plan?

Lawmakers keep test score component, propose other benchmarks as they look to tweak program

Florida teachers could have more ways to earn bonuses next year, as lawmakers look to revise a contentious program that rewards instructors based partly on their old college admissions scores.

Both Florida House and Senate leaders have proposed changes to the Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarship Program, created in 2015 with the goal of giving top teachers, or teacher candidates, $10,000 bonuses.

The changes are an effort “to get us to a point where we can get more buy in” but also to continue a program lawmakers are convinced will help public schools facing a teacher shortage to recruit and retain top instructors, said Rep. Manny Diaz Jr., R-Hialeah.

The new proposals keep the most controversial piece of the bonus program — its ties to ACT and SAT scores. But the House version lowers the test scores teachers need to qualify, and both measures add other benchmarks that could be used to earn the money, such as good scores on

other exams or good grades in college. Both also expand the program to reward “best and brightest” school principals, too.

The changes, which look likely to pass the Legislature in some form, would mean more educators could earn the extra pay, which could dampen criticism of the program. Many teachers have called the current requirements nonsensical, arguing they should be in line for bonuses if they do a good job teaching, not because they earned high scores on college-entrance exams they took years ago.

This year, about 7,200 instructors, or about 4 percent of the state’s teaching force, earned “best and brightest” bonuses of about $6,800 reach. The bonuses were touted as $10,000 payouts, but the Legislature set a fixed amount for the program, so the reward amount dropped when more teachers qualified.

“I’m glad they’re revisiting it,” said Sondra Dunlap, an English teacher at Winter Park High School.

Dunlap was deemed a “high impact” instructor teacher by the state last year, meaning her students made strong academic gains three years in a row.

She missed out on the current bonus program, however, because her math SAT score was too low, though her verbal SAT score was well over the needed 80th percentile, and she had the required “highly effective” ratings on her annual reviews.

With two young children at home and a third on the way, Dunlap often takes on after-school tutoring jobs to make extra money. The bonus pay would have helped her family.

“It’s just so frustrating,” said the University of Central Florida graduate, who finished magna cum laude, a “Latin honor” that could help her win a bonus under the House proposal.

Diaz, chairman of one of the House’s pre-K-12 education budget subcommittee, said he did not yet have estimates on how many teachers and principals might qualify under the House bill, nor how much the program might cost. Florida has spent $44 million and $49 million on “best and brightest” for each of the past two years, and Diaz said funding likely would go up this year, perhaps to $125 million.

His Senate counterpart, Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, has suggested spending more than $200 million. The Senate bill is more far-reaching, seeking to lure talented new teaching candidates but also to encourage top-notch teachers to take jobs in the state’s struggling schools.

In a nod to suggestions made by Gov. Rick Scott, it provides $10,000 signing bonuses, for example, to graduates of Florida’s teaching programs who leave school with B averages or better and commit to teaching in a “high-need” school or field for at least three years

The Senate bill (SB 1552) was discussed but not voted on Wednesday. The House plan (PCB 17-02) earned a 17-1 favorable vote at the education committee Friday. In the coming weeks, lawmakers likely will hash out a version that can pass in both chambers.

During the committee meeting, Diaz said there is no data yet to show if the program is working but lawmakers are convinced it will help attract strong college students into the teaching field and keep them in Florida’s classrooms. For that reason, they are committed to the test-score requirement because it helps gauge “high aptitude” candidates.

“Just because you do well on a test doesn’t mean you’re going to be a good teacher, clearly,” Diaz said. “However, we know that if you put individuals with higher aptitude into the classroom they have a better chance of being a highly effective teacher and impacting our students.”

The only “no” vote during Friday’s hearing came from Rep. Shevrin Jones, DWest Park, who said the changes put the House “on the right track," but he still had reservations about the bonuses.

“If we could just give them a raise … we would be able to just attract teachers based on the salaries we have,” Jones said.

Stuart Klatte, president of the Lake County Education Association, said that is what the unions and most teachers would prefer.

“I’d rather see that money going into teacher salaries, going into the classroom, benefitting students,” Klatte said.

Rep. Rene Plasencia, ROrlando, who voted for the House bill, said there still will be “push back” from teachers and administrators, but he liked that the bonus money bypassed the usual teachers union-district bargaining process. Instead, the money gets distributed as lawmakers want.

“Our intentions are carried out because it goes directly from us to the teachers,” he said.