A new teacher-bonus program slipped into the state budget at the 11th hour is prompting criticism, and even outrage, among educators.
Under the Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarships, as many as 4,402 teachers statewide can get an individual $10,000 bonus if their ACT or SAT scores are in the top 20th percentile. Teachers must also be rated as “highly effective” – there are 1,783 teachers in Leon County with this rating – in their final annual evaluations to be eligible.
Critics of the $44 million program, the brainchild of Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, say teachers’ ACT or SAT scores are not related to their effectiveness with students.