SUPERINTENDENT LUNA ANNOUNCES NEARLY 500 SCHOOLS QUALIFY FOR PERFORMANCE BONUSES

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Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna announcedtoday that teachers who earned pay-for-performance bonuses in 499 schoolsacross Idaho will receive these bonuses, even though Proposition 2 has beenrepealed.
In a written opinion requested by Superintendent Luna, theAttorney General’s office held that bonuses were earned during the 2011-2012school year and paying the bonuses is a “ministerial” duty. Proposition 2,which created a statewide pay-for-performance program, was repealed by Idahovoters on November 6.
“This is great news for Idaho teachers who have worked hardto earn these bonuses and deserve to receive them,” said Superintendent Luna.“I am pleased districts will be able to distribute this $38 million in bonusesdespite the repeal of Proposition 2.”
The state will distribute pay-for-performance funding toIdaho school districts and public charter schools on November 15. Under thelaw, districts have until December 15 to distribute these bonuses to the Idahoteachers who earned it under the pay-for-performance plan in the 2011-2012school year. However, some uncertainty had existed on whether or not districtscould distribute this bonus money to teachers after the laws are officiallyrepealed from Idaho Code on November 21.
Therefore, Superintendent Luna asked the Attorney Generalthe following question to give school districts clarity: If Proposition 2 isrepealed, will local school districts and public charter schools have the legalauthority to distribute pay-for-performance bonuses to individual teachers after the November21 certification of the election?
About eight in 10 Idaho teachers will receive a bonus thisyear. The average bonus will be about $2,000. School districts across Idaho areset to receive millions in bonuses for teachers. For example, the Boise SchoolDistrict will receive an estimated $4.6 million, Meridian School District anestimated $4.2 million, Twin Falls School District an estimated $998,000,Pocatello School District an estimated $2 million, Idaho Falls School Districtan estimated $1.2 million, Lewiston School District an estimated $1 million,and Coeur d’Alene School District an estimated $1.7 million.
Under Idaho’s statewide pay-for-performance plan, teacherswere awarded bonuses for meeting criteria at the state and local level.
The state goals were based on student performance on theISAT and took into account both student proficiency and student growth. Thestate rewarded teachers and other certificated staff in an entire school forreaching goals based on overallexcellence (how many students reach proficiency), as well as academic growth(how much progress students show year over year).
Additionally, each local school district set its own localgoals based on multiple objective measures of student achievement. These goalsvary from district to district and include factors like student attendance, theIdaho Reading Indicator, end-of-course assessments and graduation rates.
Based on the results from the 2011-2012 school year,certificated staff in 499 schools have qualified to receive a bonus. The bonusamounts will vary depending on each school district’s locally developed plan.
The State Department of Education has followed the timelineput in place in 2011 for calculating pay-for-performance bonuses based on stateand local student achievement data and distributing the funding for thesebonuses in the third state foundation payment on November 15, 2012.
The student achievement portion of pay-for-performance wasjust one part of Idaho’s statewide pay-for-performance plan. If Proposition 2had passed, teachers would have been able to earn bonuses for working inhard-to-fill positions and taking on leadership duties next year.
For a full list of schools and districts that are eligibleto receive pay-for-performance bonuses and the total amount they are scheduledto receive, please visit http://www.studentscomefirst.org/performance.htm.