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Best and Brightest Continues Despite Opposition

March 21st, 2016 by Mike Vasilinda

A teacher bonus program know as Best and Brightest and almost universally condemned by the states education establishment, is, as Mike Vasilinda tells us, being continued again next year with even more money.

Thousands of graduating High School Students will have taken one of two tests..The ACT or the SAT, to demonstrate their readiness for college. But both tests can now earn classroom teachers a bonus of up to ten thousand dollars, even though the tests may have been taken ten or twenty years ago.

Sen. Bill Montford, who represents Florida’s School Superintendents says they endorse accountability…but not bonuses based on one of the two tests back in high school.

“Is there a significant correlation between one’s score on the ACT or the SAT and the performance in the classroom? And that’s questionable” says Montford.

But the general dislike of the plan didn’t stop lawmakers from renewing it for at least one more year. Senator Don gaetz told colleagues they are  giving it a five million dollar increase, from 44 to 49 million.

“About a third of the award funds from this past year went to attract new teachers. Teachers who had not been in the teaching profession before” says Gaetz.

More than 52 hundred teachers qualified for the bonus this year. So instead of getting ten thousand dollars, they’ll have to share a little bit less. About 82 hundred apiece.

April first is the deadline for all districts to cut checks.

Florida’s teachers union President JoAnn McCall calls the plan discriminatory.

“We have a lot of veteran teachers who can’t retrieve their ACT or SAT scores because they were taken so long ago” says McCall.

While educators don’t like the plan, top lawmakers do. And they are already discussing increasing the money next year.

Teachers also say the plan discriminates against foreign born educators or those who attended a historically black college that didn’t require SAT or ACT tests for admission.

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