Over a million dollars in award money will be given to teachers
at San Benito High School as a result of litigation against the
state of California.
Hollister – Over a million dollars in award money will be given to teachers at San Benito High School as a result of litigation against the state of California.
Over the course of next month, 126 teachers and other certificated staff who taught at the school during the 1999-2000 school year will receive a retractive bonus of $10,000. The money, totaling $1.3 million, is the result of a lawsuit by a Sacramento-area principal against the California State Board of Education which argued that all certificated personnel, such as teachers and librarians, were due money under a state incentive program.
“It was a surprise to all of us,” said Dr. Jean Burns Slater, superintendent of San Benito High School, who won’t be receiving a bonus because it excludes superintendents, and even if it did, Slater wasn’t hired as superintendent until 2003. “The requirements were applied incorrectly and that’s why we are getting the money now.”
Initially, the state awarded the
incentive bonuses to schools who saw an increase in test scores for two years in a row, said Slater. But under the requirements, only one year of increased scores was needed to qualify for the bonuses, she said. As a result, 66 additional schools, including San Benito High, have received the money to cover the bonuses from the state, totaling a payout of approximately $100 million statewide. San Benito High was the only school in the county eligible for the retroactive award.
Teachers also expressed surprise about receiving the money, saying while it was not uncommon to get a retroactive raise, it was more unusual to get money from the state for increased test scores.
“This seems too good to be true,” said Bill Johnson, who teaches biology at the high school. “I never have received anything like that in more than 20 years teaching.”
What is more unusual about the payout is that it comes at a time when $2 billion in funding has been cut from education by Gov. Schwarzenneger, said Johnson.
The Certificated Staff Performance Incentive program was created in 1999 to reward teachers at schools that improved their Academic Performance Index score – composed from a series of four standardized tests taken by students each spring. However, it was eliminated after only one year because of a lack of funds and there are no plans to revive the program.
Under provisions of the award, all certificated staff employed by the district have to have spent at least 50 percent of the 1999-2000 year teaching and least 20 percent of their time working directly with students.
The last time district employees received compensation money was in 1999 when all school staff, from teachers to librarians to custodians, received funds from the state. The money was part of another incentive program, according to Slater.
Despite the award, which will be distributed over the next two pay periods and is still subject to taxes, Johnson has no plans of retiring with the money just yet. And he insists that while the money is a nice bonus, it is still doesn’t surpass the greatest gift of all – knowing that a child learned something in the year he or she spent in his class.
“The recognition that means the most is when a student leaves your classroom and you get feedback that they’ve learned something,” he said. “And that happens as infrequently as getting $10,000.”
The lawsuit spent several years in lower courts, before being sent to California Superior Court, where a judge ruled in favor of certificated teachers in July of 2003.
Karina Ioffee covers education and agriculture for the Free Lance. Reach her at (831)637-5566 ext. 335 or [email protected]
