$3,000-Plus Bonus For 6,000 Teachers And 262 Principals; Program Covers High-Need Schools Where Students Show Improvement
By DAVID SIMS
More than 6,000 elementary and middle school educators will receive bonuses totaling $19.7 million for improving student achievement in their schools, it was announced Sept. 18. Teachers at 89 high-need schools who met performance targets under a 2007 pilot program, as well as Principals at 262 schools, were eligible for the bonuses.

RANDI WEINGARTEN: Right kind of merit pay.

Mayor Bloomberg, Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and Council of School Supervisors and Administrators President Ernest Logan made the announcement at M.S. 319 in Washington Heights, joined by the school's Principal and UFT chapter leader.

'Rewarding Excellence'

"In every good company, excellence is rewarded," said the Mayor. "These bonuses allow us to retain our best Teachers and Principals and to help us recruit the most-talented new educators to our schools."

Ms. Weingarten's praise was more measured, but she commended the fairness of the bonuses. "While this program is not perfect, this kind of differentiated pay is a far cry from the divisive individual merit pay plans we fight against," she said. "Although it does not address all the factors that affect school improvement — such as good working conditions and adequate resources — it does empower Teachers and it brings decision-making to the school level."

ERNEST LOGAN: 'Rewarding success.'

"Accountability is not only about accepting responsibility, it's also about rewarding success," Mr. Logan added. "CSA first negotiated performance bonuses in our 1999 contract because we wanted to keep quality school leaders working in New York City and we believe in rewarding success."

The majority of the bonuses are part of a pilot scheme that randomly selected 240 high-need schools, 205 of which signed on to the program, offering financial reward if the school could maintain an "A" Progress Report grade over the last school year. In total, 89 elementary and middle schools in the city qualified for the bonuses, which total $14.2 million, or $3,000 for every full-time UFT staff member ($1,500 if the school achieved only three quarters of its targeted improvement). The average bonus for qualifying schools was $160,095.

Apportioned by Committees

The UFT bonuses will be distributed by each school's "compensation committee," a board consisting of the school's Principal, a designee of the Principal, and two UFT representatives chosen by the union membership. While most committees will reportedly divide the money equally amongst its members, this is not required and some schools may award the funds based on seniority, or individual achievement by Teachers.

Principals and Assistant Principals are also receiving bonuses after the city's 2007 contract with the CSA, which aligned the administrators' bonus system with the Department of Education's school accountability measures. School leaders are thus rewarded based on the success of their students on Progress Reports, and Principals whose Progress Report scores are in the top 20 percent citywide receive bonuses of $25,000 (if in the top 1 percent), $17,000 (top 2-5 percent), $12,000 (top 6-10 percent) or $7,000 (top 11-20 percent). In total, $5.5 million will be spread among 262 Principals and Assistant Principals.

"I'm thrilled that the UFT and the DOE have been able to collaborate so successfully ... we've created one of the largest school bonus programs in the country," said Mr. Klein. "We're committed to recognizing the work of Teachers, Principals, and other staff who help their students succeed."

Grades Up, Unions Not Thrilled

The bonus announcement came after the DOE announced the elementary and middle-school report cards for the 2007-2008 school year Sept. 16, which saw 74 percent more schools earning As, almost 400 in total, and only 18 schools being given an F grade, down from 43 last year. Ms. Weingarten said that while the grades had been positive, the UFT was "concerned that the Progress Reports rely so heavily — 85 percent — on standardized test scores," and that "we still need to know more about how these grades are affected by other factors such as large class sizes and school overcrowding."

Similarly, Mr. Logan, who said he had collaborated with the DOE to improve the accuracy of the numbers, said there was "more work to be done" to make the process "equitable, accurate, transparent and understandable."