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I think we should be ashamed to give the Teachers just the $1,500.00 if they exceed benchmarks. It should be at least $2,500.00 if they exceed.
I think all the persons on
The State Board of Education need to commit to spending
1 week in every grade. K-12
I bet they would see how hard it is to be a Teacher. It's no wonder NC is one of the lowest states listed for good education.

I think this is so wrong. We make up a test to measure students and tell teachers that if they are able to get these students to perform well they will receive a bonus. Then we take some of the bonus away. Well the teachers have already done their part by getting the students to perform well. What message are we sending to the importance of educators in our society.

I am a teacher and I know what let's do: let's apply the same expectations to doctors and lawyers. How about "No patient left unhealed" and "No defendant found guilty"? Doctors should be required to heal more patients in 2009 than they healed in 2008; there must be documentation to prove that their rates of healing improve EACH YEAR and that fewer and fewer patients DIE. No improvement? Uh-oh...salaries and bonuses must be refigured and government money must be taken away. Lawyers must improve their courtroom outcomes each year; they MUST win more cases this year than last...and more next year than this year or face financial repercussions. The state needs to look into this strategy within its own ranks as well. Every state agency MUST prove that measurable improvements are made...oh wait...schools are the only ones held accountable this way...I forgot.

It is truly unfair to take away from the teachers. They deserve alot more than that for the hard work they provide in teaching our children. Some children learn and get more attention from their teachers than they do at home.
IThere has to be another area to reduce money from instead of taking the teachers money that they deserve.
Shame, Shame on the Board of Education.

Oh wow! I love that analogy Nina!!! I am a teacher too and as much as we are currently underpaid for ALL THE HARD WORK we put in, I consider it an insult that 1). the 8% raises we were supposed to receive were reduced to an average of 3% and
2). that the incentive bonuses for ABC are being cut by about 30%. My school did not meet growth in 06-07 but did for 07-08 with a lot of hard work!!!
This is my first time earning this bonus and now
it had been cut! Way to go NC!

Nina: I understand your anger, and share it. However, teachers are paid to teach, and there has to be some way to measure that learning actually took place.

That being said, teachers are woefully underpaid. If we valued teachers for the critical job they do, then we would pay them what they are worth, and support them in the classroom by creating an environment in which learning can actually take place.

I teach at the community college level. I can't fathom working in the chaotic environment of the public school system.

The state made a contract with teachers to pay them bonuses for meeting or exceeding state standards. If the state is unwilling to compensate teachers for their work, and live up to the deals they make, then the state should not be able to penalize teachers for NOT making the benchmarks.

We need to quit teaching to the test. Theses kids bring that attitude into the community college system, making it very difficult for me to actually get them to think.

No money for education??? Isn't that the purpose of the "education" lottery??? This will be the first time that I will receive a high growth bonus. How disappointing!

Oh my-

No wonder home schooling is growing each year.

Great post, Nina. If it's in writing, and the state is reneging, you have to file a class action lawsuit. There is probably no other way.

The state has to see that the next time they offer bonues they'll be no takers.

The action taken as it relates to the promised bonuses will certainly lead to low morale. Teachers in NC deserve more money - they make many sacrifices, tolerate levels of emotional abuse from the students and their parents on a daily basis. This profession is one of the most underpaid profession -- why? I agree the Board of Education committee members who supported the decrease in bonus pay should step into the classrooms for a week to observe and I believe that would convince them that teachers are valuable!

Teachers in NC deserve more money - they make many sacrifices, tolerate levels of emotional abuse from the students and their parents on a daily basis. This will lead to "low morale" within the school systems for teachers. I agree the Board of Education committee members who supported the decrease in bonus pay should step into the classrooms for a week to observe and I believe that would convince them that teachers are valuable! Word is suppose to be bond...

Nina said: "[L]et's apply the same expectations to doctors and lawyers. How about 'No patient left unhealed' and 'No defendant found guilty'?"

One can only hope that your statements are hyperbole.

Had your statements not been hyperbole I would feel compelled to inform you and others that the court system is premised on "justice for all." The court system includes government prosecutors who are sworn to uphold the law and provide justice for all. The lofty ideal of "justice for all" will never be achieved if "No defendant [is] found guilty."

"No defendant found guilty" will signal a better society only when there are NO lawbreakers causing pain and suffering to others.

Blesspatty: Surely you understood that Nina's comments were meant to underscore the lunacy that is No Child Left Behind?

To reduce a bonus that has already been earned is wrong. If funding is an issue, then discussion should take place for the coming year, not just swipe the money out from under teachers who have worked and produced results. There always seems to be money for bonuses for those at the top of the systems--why are the teachers always the ones made to do without?

How do teachers feel about Guilford County's new School Sup. being paid $250,000.00. How's that for a slap in the face?
The only job in the school system that is worth a flip is in the administration office. Lot's of money and perks. The rest of the school employees can bend over and take it. Thanks School Board, you really know how to show where your priorities are.

Gee...(more sarcasm coming) I hate that they reduced our bonuses. I always use some of that money to buy my classroom supplies (I will buy them anyway...bonus or not). My students (can you believe it?) actually like coming into a room that is clean and has paper towels, tissues, pens, pencils, paper, journals, markers, page protectors, cleaning supplies, and plenty of novels. I am happy to spend my bonus on those things (NO sarcasm) because my students deserve no less than an inviting, well-equipped environment in which to learn. I know that some people think that we should be grateful for a piece of chalk (per semester) and a slate board, but I happen to think that we can do a little better than that for our teachers and students. Go ahead: Call me irrational.

I get embarrassed sometimes (every summer) when the legislature and the board do their bogus money dance regarding raises and bonuses. The idiotic "bonus carrot" needs to go away. It has nothing to do with what we teachers do or WHY we do it. They need to give that money (if it exists) to teachers for classroom supplies since that is what many of us do with it anyway.

I have to head to Wal-Mart now...notebooks are on sale 2 for $1.00!!!!! To a teacher, THAT is an incentive. It's like Christmas in August!

I am a teacher at a high school that did not get any bonus this year. That's okay. But I am extremely upset for the teachers who did achieve expected or high growth, to see them have their bonus cut. It's not right for the state of NC to promise something, then not deliver. NCAE do I hear a lawsuit brewing? I would gladly contribute to a fund to sue the state of NC for not keeping their word to teachers. Have we forgotten about the NC lottery? Where is that money going? How come it can't be used to take care of a promise? If we, the teachers, can't trust our state legislators to make ethical decisions, and keep their promises, who can we trust? no one. how sad....

How very sad and unfair for the teachers.It's no wonder this state is hurting so desperately for teachers.Teachers in most other states get higher salaries to begin with, so the low pay here is not draw for anyone just graduating college and I would never consider teaching here when the system goes back and takes away the bonuses. Guess if I were in your shoes teachers there, I would do just the bare minimum......it doesn't pay to be hard working,caring and concerned...when the people paying your salaries don't seem to really give a damn.Whats a love of profession to all teachers seems like just a job to administration.it isn't fair...and quite awful to be misled!