Incentive Pay to Staff Low-Income Schools Proposed

WASHINGTON - Written into the proposed No Child Left Behind Act renewal is a plan to provide pay incentives to get experienced teachers and principals into hard-to-staff, low-income schools.

Qualifying teachers could get annual bonuses up to $12,000 a year and principals $15,000 if they agree to work at schools that have a hard time hiring and retaining experienced staff.

George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said the proposal will “bring top talent into classrooms that need it most.”

But the proposal has drawn the opposition of the largest teachers union.

“Teachers aren’t hired by the federal government,” Reg Weaver, president of the National Education Association, told the committee. Any federal program that ties teacher pay to student test scores “is offensive and disrespectful to educators,” he said.

(Gil Klein can be reached at gklein@mediageneral.com).