In the largest district-level performance-pay program in the country, the Houston Independent School District for the first time doled out $14 million in staff bonuses last month.
But once The Houston Chronicle published the names and awards of the more than 7,400 staff members who received the cash bonuses鈥攔anging from $100 to more than $7,000鈥攎any people, including teachers, parents, and students, were left angered and wondering why some of their school鈥檚 most esteemed teachers were overlooked while others were rewarded.
鈥淚t鈥檚 embarrassing,鈥� said Gayle Fallon, the president of the 6,300-member Houston Federation of Teachers, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers. 鈥淲e have teachers who are on 鈥榞rowth plans鈥欌�攚hich isn鈥檛 a good thing鈥攇etting bonuses.鈥�
Meanwhile, other teachers who have been named 鈥渢eachers of the year鈥� at their schools and by national organizations were left empty-handed.
Officials say that is because the awards are based exclusively on student improvement, which in this case is measured solely by students鈥� performance on standardized tests.
Under the old performance-pay plan, which had been in place in the district since the 2000-01 school year, teachers received schoolwide awards based on their schools鈥� rankings in the Texas accountability system. Last year, the district paid about $2 million to give about 2,070 of the district鈥檚 13,000 teachers $1,000 each.
The new awards given this year averaged $1,847, which represents 4 percent of $48,000, the average teacher salary in the district, according to officials. Most of the money鈥�$12 million鈥攃ame from the federal government.
The first level of awards, the lowest, rewards both teachers and noninstructional staff members, such as clerks, aides, and janitors, based on the gains their schools鈥� students made on standardized tests from one year to another compared with students in other schools. All instructional faculty members, including nurses and librarians, can receive awards at the second level, which is based on students鈥� gains on the Stanford 10 Achievement Test and its Spanish-language equivalent, Aprenda 3.
The top-tier rewards 鈥渃ore鈥� classroom teachers for their students鈥� improvement on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, or TAKS. Since those tests are offered only in mathematics, reading, and, in some grades, science and social studies, a limited number of teachers are eligible for the largest awards.
Blaming the Messenger
To add insult to injury, some say, Abelardo Saavedra, the superintendent of the 209,000-student district, called the teachers who received bonuses 鈥渢he cream of the crop鈥� at a news conference held to announce the award winners.
Maria de Jesus-Pag谩n, a prekindergarten teacher at Gary L. Herod Elementary School, said most of the teachers she knows are more upset about Mr. Saavedra鈥檚 comments than whether they got bonuses.
鈥淗e cannot take back the damage he did to teachers,鈥� she said. Ms. De Jesus-Pag谩n, who has been named the 2007 Bilingual Teacher of the Year by the National Association for Bilingual Education, did not receive a bonus this year.
Mr. Saavedra later apologized in an e-mail to employees.
鈥淚 agree that referring to the recipients of our performance-pay program as the 鈥榗ream of the crop鈥� and 鈥榙edicated鈥� suggests that the others are not, and that was not my intention,鈥� he wrote, adding that he would work with teachers and principals to improve the plan. 鈥淎s I have said many times, we have excellent, high-performing teachers at all levels and in all schools in HISD. Many of those teachers received performance pay and some did not.鈥�
Mr. Saavedra went on to say that the system is 鈥渘ot perfect,鈥� but that it was an improvement over the old model. He also criticized the Chronicle for running the list.
The Chronicle says that the search engine on its Web site had more than 400,000 hits in the days following the awards. The site鈥檚 blog entry on the subject has more than 400 comments from teachers and other readers, many of whom were unhappy about the newspaper鈥檚 handling of the information.
The newspaper defended its decision in an editorial. 鈥淚n publishing this information, we created a public discussion that may not have happened but for the data being disclosed,鈥� it said. 鈥淎s a result, the superintendent has vowed to work with teachers and principals to devise a better bonus plan. After all, isn鈥檛 that what teachers want?鈥�
Last-Minute Results
Though Mr. Saavedra said that he was willing to tweak the plan, a press release put out by the district after the flap promised that 鈥減erformance pay for teachers鈥攑aying more money to the teachers who lead children to make the greatest progress鈥攊s here to stay.鈥�
But the plan will need a lot of work to do that, critics say.
鈥淭eachers do more than just give standardized tests to students,鈥� said Ms. De Jesus-Pag谩n. 鈥淧rincipals and administrators should be able to take into consideration other factors than just a test for minimum skills.鈥�
Others complain that the plan is confusing and leaves teachers with no way of gauging whether they will receive a bonus.
鈥淭he board needs to be very clear about what they want teachers to do,鈥� said Lisa Auerbach, a 3rd grade teacher at Herod Elementary, who received a $1,025 bonus. She said she believes that the board has good intentions and will work hard to fix the problems in the plan.
On a 鈥渇requently asked questions鈥� section of the HISD Web site, the district offers this explanation: 鈥淕iven the nature of the model and the way all campuses and teachers are compared to each other, 鈥� it is impossible to anticipate how much any single teacher will receive in any year. Only when the final results are calculated and comparisons are conducted will it be possible to know if any teacher qualifies for performance pay.鈥�
Houston鈥檚 board of education is scheduled to hold its next meeting Feb. 8. Ms. Auerbach plans to be there, and has volunteered to work with Mr. Saavedra and the board to change the plan.
Ms. De Jesus-Pag谩n said that she would like to go, but won鈥檛 be able to make it. She鈥檒l be at the NABE conference in San Jose, Calif., receiving her national teacher of the year award that evening.
