Say this for the former guv: He doesn't mind controversy. Jeb Bush supported performance pay for teachers while he was in office, and now that he's out of office, he's quietly giving a thumbs up to performance pay for students.
A press release sent out Friday afternoon by Bush's Foundation for Florida’s Future (sorry we didn't mention it sooner; if you can’t tell, it's pretty much all-evolution-all-the-time) congratulates Florida for again posting some of the highest AP participation and passage rates in the country (see Gradebook post here), and then offers a few suggestions on how Florida can do even better, including offering cash bonuses to students.
"Bonuses for student performance have been tested for more than a decade, and results show this type of incentive works," reads the statement from Patricia Levesque, the foundation's executive director. The statement mentions a Dallas program that was started in 1996 to boost AP participation and passage rates, and notes that some other big-city school districts are following suit. (Former Florida Education Commissioner John Winn, a Bush ally, is deeply involved with these efforts at his new gig. See Gradebook post here.)
The Foundation statement offered two other ideas: 1) Removing the $2,000 cap on bonuses for AP teachers (right now, they get $50 for each student who passes an AP test, up to $2,000), and 2) requiring all schools to offer at least four core AP courses (according to the foundation, only half of Florida’s high schools do so).
- Ron Matus, state education reporter
Get inside the world of Florida education with St. Petersburg Times staff writer Jeffrey S. Solochek and the rest of the Times education reporting team. We'll bring you up-to-date information about the latest education trends, fads and news and dig deep into Tampa Bay area school issues.
I hope Jeb and company don't think Florida taxpayers are going to pay the tab for this.
Even in good economic times it would be a non starter.
The idea would be great if Exxon-Mobil will pick up the cost (partner with Jeb and National Math and Science Institute).
Or maybe Jeb can hit up some of his millionaire/billionaire buddies? How about his friends at Lehman Brothers in NY who ripped off the state investment pool????
Or better yet, Jeb and Ms. Levesque can pay out of their own overly inflated salaries!
Posted by: terminator | February 19, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Jeb is out of it. THe reward for doing well on an AP exam is college credit. pretty soon we'll have kids making more in bonus $ than we pay teachers
Posted by: retarded | February 18, 2008 at 06:12 PM