The Onus of the Bonus

Thousands of HISD teachers opened their paychecks Tuesday hoping to find more money than usual. A new merit-based bonus program, approved unanimously by the school board a year ago, went into effect today. It rewards teachers based on their students' performance on standardized tests.

The bonuses – ranging from zero to a maximum of about $7,000 – are meant to be an incentive to improve teaching. The thing is, while the administration loves the bonuses, teachers unions don't. And judging from the Chronicle's reporting and the comments on their School Zone blog, reaction from teachers is definitely mixed. Some argue that it will disproportionately reward teachers of the core, standardized-tested subjects like math, reading, and science. Others think that it will drive teachers out of lower-performing schools to seek better bonuses at higher-performing schools. Of course, others find it hard to complain about the added cash.

Merit pay is one of the big debates about public education, so it will be interesting to see how this all plays out here, especially since a Florida teachers union is suing over a program very similar to HISD's.

So if you see a teacher looking grumpy, buy them a beer. Actually, just buy any teacher a beer – anyone who deals with hundreds of teenagers a day deserves it.

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Photo: flickr user Editor B