If their students' standardized test scores make the grade this year, hundreds of Northside teachers will be eligible to receive salary stipends through a state-funded grant program.
Gov. Rick Perry and Texas Education Agency Commissioner Robert Scott visited Lackland Elementary School this week to present Northside ISD with a check for $5.4 million for the District Awards for Teaching Excellence, or DATE, program.
About 600 teachers in 22 schools throughout the District will have to wait for 2009 TAKS test results to collect their stipend. Teachers will receive anywhere between roughly $50 and $3,000, depending on what subject they teach.
"I know our teachers are not fully compensated for what they do, given the incredible challenges they face and the high expectations they must meet," Superintendent John Folks said. "But hopefully this money will send a message to our teachers about how valuable they truly are."
The schools that were selected for participation in the DATE program are those with the highest number of economically disadvantaged students.
"There is no financial measure for a young life that is changed, inspired, and set on course to fulfill its potential," Perry said. "We must reward those teachers that break away from the pack and make a positive and lasting influence on our students' education and lives."
The DATE program is different from other incentive programs because only teachers are eligible to receive grants. The Texas Educator Excellence Grant (TEEG), also funded by the state, is open to all staff members on a campus.
The 22 schools that are eligible for DATE grants are:
Elementary schools
- Burke
- Esparza
- Glass
- Glenoaks
- Hatchett
- Hull
- Knowlton
- Lackland City
- Mead
- Meadow Villiage
- Michael
- Myers
- Valley Hi
- Villarreal
- Westwood Terrace
Middle schools
High schools
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