Atlanta Public Schools may ditch its incentive pay program in an effort to trim the district’s spending and following concerns of widespread test cheating since the program’s creation.
Cutting the program, which was one of the first of its kind when introduced more than 10 years ago under former superintendent Beverly Hall, is one of the many strategies the district is considering to shave $19 million from the budget before the fiscal year’s end.
Eliminating the incentive pay program could save about $1.3 million, said Superintendent Erroll Davis.
Davis says the bonus program, which is awarded based on student test scores and other performance indicators such as attendance, is flawed given the admission of widespread test cheating in a state investigation of Atlanta Public Schools.
For more than a decade educators and support staff whose schools showed improvement could earn $250-$2,000 in bonus checks. Hall, under a separate bonus program laid out in her contract, collected more than $580,000 in bonuses above her annual pay in the 12 years she worked for APS.
“While people may have theoretically earned this, I don’t know about the efficacy of the data and the quality of the data,” Davis said.
A state investigation released in July uncovered cheating at 44 Atlanta schools, and suggested that the academic fraud had gone on as long as a decade.
APS was considered a pioneer in merit pay. As of last year, the district had paid out nearly $17 million in bonuses since 2001. Since January 2009, educators at schools implicated in the cheating scandal received about $500,000 in bonuses.
Some teachers say the salary program has held little sway. Teachers groups like the Atlanta Association of Educators have opposed performance pay, said president Ramon Reeves.
"I don't think [ending the bonus program] will have a major effect on people," he said.
But state investigators said pressure to meet targets was the primary motivation for teachers and administrators to cheat on 2009 state standardized tests.
Still, bonus pay has gained footing in the education world. Georgia has plans to revamp teacher pay in the coming years so some educators will be rewarded according to how much growth students show on standardized tests.
Even if APS gets rid of its bonus program, it won't be enough to close APS's growing budget gap.
Davis, who took over in July, said Thursday the district has to do a better job of living within its means. Last year, the district was on track to overspend by $28 million and had to pull from savings to cover the costs.
“The budget is something we have to have a little more respect for than we have in the past,” he said. “Managers can’t say, ‘I know what I need, and you need to go out and find the money.’”
The district budgeted $589 million in fiscal year 2011 but ended up spending $617 million. Much of the added spending went to fund additional teachers and to support positions, such as guidance counselors and school administrators.
For fiscal year 2012, which began in July and runs until June 30, the district originally budgeted about $578 million but now projects to $597 million.
The district must cut spending by $19 million. It must make the cuts at a time the district plans to pull $6 million from savings to pay the salaries and benefits of educators named in the state cheating investigation over the next six months
On the chopping block: 26 positions from the operations department and vacancies in several other divisions, including communications and curriculum and instruction.
Davis said he also wants to look at how the district uses retired employees to determine if any money can be saved by using traditional employees instead. Retirees can only work part time, but might be paid at a higher pay rate than less senior employees.
Adding two additional furlough days was also discussed, but got mixed reviews from board members.
"In my opinion, the two we have is enough, and I would like to be able to find the [cuts] without furlough days," said board member Reuben McDaniel.
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