North Carolina pays $35 million in teacher bonuses this year, but is evaluating if the money can be better spent elsewhere. | Shuttershock
North Carolina pays $35 million in teacher bonuses this year, but is evaluating if the money can be better spent elsewhere. | Shuttershock
State education officials examined if $35 million paid as bonuses to teachers this year was worth the investment of North Carolina tax dollars.
Teacher bonuses are awarded based on student performance. The better those results, according to a WFAE report, the greater the financial bonus. With schools were closed, the state Board of Education started evaluating the financial-incentive program to determine if it was the best use of taxpayers' money.
Schools can receive up to $3,500 in bonuses if students reach career-tech credentials or high scores on college-level exams, according to WFAE. But many teachers in the state have said the program seems competitive.
If a teacher's students' growth is in the top 25% in the state, they receive a bonus. If it's in the top 25% of their district, the teacher gets another bonus, according to WFAE.
Tom Tomberlin, with the Department of Public Instruction, told WFAE this method lets district officials know when schools are meeting expectations. Cabarrus County, one of the Top 5 districts for fourth- and fifth-grade reading and sixth-grade math, seems to be meeting these expectations.
If a third- or fourth-grade teacher saw growth in students that landed in the top 25%, the teacher received a bonus of $7,000 as opposed to $4,000 for other reading bonuses. According to WFAE, the teachers with more experience appeared to have to best results.
"We can see that the majority of the teachers who were qualifying for the bonus were between the 25- to 30-year mark," Tara Galloway, with the Department of Public Instruction, told WFAE.
But the Department of Public Instruction said the effect the bonuses have on teacher effectiveness and retention has been mixed this year, according to WFAE.
"We cannot causally attribute any of this to the bonus," Tomberlin told WFAE.
According to WFAE, J.B. Buxton, a member of the school board, said now would be a good time to examine the teacher performance bonus program with schools closed due to the pandemic.
Buxton told WFAE that he's not against the bonuses, but "I do want to make sure that $35 million, we feel like that’s the best investment of that money."
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