Bush seeks teacher certification limit

Incentives have made the program popular - and costly. Jeb Bush wants no more than 500 this year.

By STEPHEN HEGARTY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 10, 2002

Along with several proposals to increase education funding, Gov. Jeb Bush hopes to save money by limiting one education program that had made Florida a national leader.

The governor wants to limit to 500 the number of Florida teachers who can become nationally certified this year. Last year 992 Florida teachers achieved the prestigious National Board Certification.

Even with the cap, Bush wants to put $10-million more into the program this year, from $31-million to $41-million.

The program appears to be a victim of its own success. It has grown in the past three years, from 22 in 1998 to 2,400 in 2001. The big increase began after the state offered financial rewards in 1998. The cost to the state exploded.

"The governor strongly supports the National Board Certification program," said Katie Baur, spokeswoman for Bush. "But there is no question demand is exceeding our initial original expectations. We have spent a phenomenal amount of money so far.

"We need to make sure we pace it and make sure we can pay for what we've promised."

So far, the program has cost Florida $76.4-million, Baur said. Annual costs have risen from $14-million in 1999 to $31-million in 2001. Much of the cost is tied up in the annual bonuses of more than $4,000 given to all the state's nationally certified teachers. The state is committed to paying those bonuses for the 10 years the certification lasts.

National Board president Betty Castor, the former Florida education commissioner, said she is disappointed by Bush's proposed cap. "I'm going to try to convince them that this needs to be funded," she said. While acknowledging Bush has supported the program, Castor added: "I don't think this sends out the message we need. This program makes Florida a national leader."

Florida leads the nation in the number of candidates for national certification, and the financial incentive and support from the Legislature has boosted teacher interest. Florida trails only North Carolina in the overall number of certified teachers.

Bush's proposal must be approved by the Legislature, and the new Florida Board of Education likely will have some say in crafting the details.

More than 3,000 Florida teachers are working to become nationally certified. How will the state choose the teachers who will get the financial rewards?

"I think this will discourage new candidates because of the uncertainty," said Sara Dubbeld, a nationally certified teacher from Gibbs High in St. Petersburg. "If I were in the middle of it, this would infuriate me."

Abby Rudderham, a teacher at St. Petersburg's Maximo Elementary School, is in the middle of the process. She said she has no intentions of turning back now. But she thinks teachers who are contemplating the task -- it involves hundreds of hours of work -- might be discouraged.

"You don't do it just for the funding," Rudderham said, "but this is a huge investment of time and energy."

Similar budget constraints prompted Virginia recently to reduce its financial rewards to nationally certified teachers. The number of applications have since dropped, said Marjorie Heywood, licensure specialist for the Virginia Department of Education.

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