By Sarah Snyder
Staff Writer

On the heels of positive Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills scores for Northside Independent School District, the school board approved an incentive program that would put cold hard cash in the pockets of teachers who contribute to such success.

Reading scores were announced at March 25 school board meeting, and third, fifth and eighth graders passed at a 91, 90 and 96 percent rate, respectively, scoring above the state average.

“There’s a lot of pressure, as we all know. But they do an outstanding job,” said Superintendent John Folks.

Meanwhile, staff presented the district’s plan for a teacher’s pay incentive program that would reward those who contribute to passing TAKS scores.

The District Award for Teacher Excellence (DATE) was created by the 79th Legislature. Northside will receive $4.5 million from the state for two years, and the district must provide matching funds.

The district developed criteria for 22 schools, selected based on economic status and TAKS performance.

“We struggled with the criteria,” said Linda Mora, deputy superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction, adding that John Glenn Elementary declined membership in the program because it “had the potential to be divisive among the teachers.”

Schools in the program include Hatchett, Knowlton, Michael and Burke elementary schools; Pease Middle School; and Stevens and Warren high schools.

Teachers stand to earn $1,000 to $3,000 and teachers’ aides and other support staff may earn $50 to $500. Amounts depend on sections passed per grade level, money available to schools and the number of teachers eligible for the funds.

For example, if 75 percent of a teacher’s fifth-graders pass reading, math and science TAKS, he or she would earn $3000, $1,000 for each subject.

The teacher must teach both in the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years.

The program hasn’t been without its critics. Making property-poor school districts help foot the bill for the program is unfair, State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, wrote in a letter to Education Commissioner Robert Scott, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

“By requiring property poor school districts to raise a 15 percent match, you place districts such as all of the ones I represent at a significant disadvantage,” Shapleigh said in his letter. Scott placed a 15 percent local match requirement on the awards.

The San Antonio-Express-News contributed to this article.