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Cash puts teachers in poor schools

Hillsborough's pitch: A big bonus to veteran educators who go to the worst schools.

TAMPA - The third-grade boy sitting near the teacher's desk wants to read, but he can't even spell the word.

He writes: rird. "Can you help me?" he asks veteran teacher Donna Violette, who has spent the past several years teaching gifted children.

Violette gives the boy, already held back twice, a squeeze. She tells him and his Spanish-speaking mother: Read at least 15 minutes a day. Read to your little brother. Just read.

"That's what we're going to work on," she says. "If you do your part, I promise you, I'll do mine."

So began an unusual experiment at Clair-Mel Elementary School, where nine of 10 students are poor, most are minorities and half are behind where they should be in math and reading.

Along with four other highly qualified teachers, Violette has agreed to spend the next year working in this east Hillsborough school. Their transfers are part of a countywide effort to get top teachers into high-poverty schools - a challenge faced by school systems nationwide.

The teachers' motives aren't entirely altruistic. Each will be paid an extra $7,000 to $9,000 this year for agreeing to transfer to Clair-Mel. For some, that amounts to a raise of more than 20 percent.

School officials call it a bargain.

All five teachers have at least a dozen years of experience, master's degrees and the prestigious National Board of Professional Teaching Standards certificate, which requires years of preparation.

And all five are friends.

They say they decided to move for the money, for the children and for each other.

"I find working with these children incredible," said 59-year-old Sue Creekmore, who spent the past four years at Symmes Elementary in Riverview, where only three in 10 children are considered poor.

"You can make such a difference in the lives of kids."

Janet Caraballo, 51, is a member of what Clair-Mel principal Shirley Sanchez calls "The Group." She has a commanding voice, 28 years of teaching experience and little patience with people who question her motives.

If professional athletes can negotiate million-dollar pay raises, she said, why should anyone question the use of monetary incentives for teachers?

"I love children," Caraballo said. "I also have children at home whom I love."

Bonus pay is unusual for Tampa Bay area school districts, and in Florida overall.

Teachers are generally paid based on their education and seniority, not where they work. But as lawmakers and President Bush stress the importance of student test scores, teacher salaries are increasingly being tied to student performance.

Virginia has a pilot program that pays veteran teachers with a record of improving student performance an additional $15,000. The teachers must agree to stay in the schools for at least three years. Hillsborough's plan has no such requirement.

Some question the entire concept.

"Are you willing to pay more to get the best teachers or the greediest teachers?" said Jade Moore, executive director of the teachers union in Pinellas County, which does not offer incentive pay. "We like to think every teacher is a high performing teacher. Money is not going to be a motivator."

Hillsborough has dipped into these waters before.

Two years ago, the School Board began paying teachers of any experience level 5 percent more to teach in high-poverty schools. It didn't work. The number of experienced teachers in poor schools grew by a total of nine.

In April, the board decided to increase the benefit to 10 percent for teachers with at least five years of experience. They offered another $4,500 for National Board certification. To pay the bill, they used $3.5-million in federal dollars, money normally spent on staff development.

Administrators and board members say it is too soon to tell whether 10 percent will be enough. But the Clair-Mel experience has given them hope.

"I think it's a good way to recruit teachers," said School Board member Doretha Edgecomb, who has personal experience as a former principal at high-poverty Robles Elementary.

"Teachers burn out after a time," she said. "After a while, they're not looking for easier assignments, but looking for a school with fewer challenges.

"Having this pay is an incentive for them to stay."

On the night before Thursday's first day of school, Clair-Mel teachers met many of their students and parents for the first time.

LaVon and Yolanda Brown told Creekmore, one of "The Group" members, that their son would need help with reading. He's a good kid, they said, but not always a good student.

Creekmore told them not to worry. The children were going to start reading from the very first day. A paperback copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, a classic by C.S. Lewis, rested on each student's desk.

"You sound like you're excited," LaVon Brown said to Creekmore. "I want to see that six months down the road.

"You'll probably be like this," he said, grabbing his head and throwing it back, as if exhausted.

Creekmore shook her head. "I love what I do," she said.

Her devotion will be welcomed at Clair-Mel, which suffers from the same disease as many other high-poverty schools - teacher turnover. In a typical year, about 60 percent of the teachers in Hillsborough's high-needs schools transfer or leave the profession entirely.

The record is a little better at Clair-Mel, where only about 40 percent of the teachers this year are new to the school. And only one is a rookie.

"That is unreal," Sanchez said. "Every year I have at least five new teachers."

The numbers bode well for the kids, given the mountains of research showing a strong connection between teacher quality and student learning.

Clair-Mel Elementary sits in a working-class neighborhood just west of Brandon. Unlike most schools, which kick off the year with sizable school supplies lists, Clair-Mel has none. Supplies are donated by supporters.

When one father asked what he needed for his son, Justin Akins, Creekmore answered: "Attendance. That's all."

Still, Creekmore bought dozens of notebooks, glue sticks, highlighters and Crayons for the first day.

She and the other teachers say they learned of the county's plans to pay bonuses while attending an urban interview expo in the spring, where principals of the eligible schools interviewed prospective educators.

Creekmore recognized Clair-Mel principal Sanchez, whom she had worked with previously at Ruskin Elementary. The group liked her creativity, professionalism and team approach. They also liked how she brought along some of her teachers as interviewers.

Springhead Elementary teacher Faye Cook, 53, didn't agree to move until she visited Clair-Mel.

She came on a Friday, usually the most unruly day at school because of children eager for the weekend. She asked to go into the cafeteria, where the children seemed to be in surprising control of themselves.

"We had talked about this in theory, all of us working at the same school," she said. "It was like pie in the sky."

After the cafeteria visit, "For me it was a go," said Cook, a 14-year veteran teacher.

On Thursday, the first day of school, the teachers swiftly took control of their classrooms. The kids, they said, were just like those in more affluent schools.

Nervous about the first day. Unsure of the class rules. Eager to see old friends.

Violette asked her 13 students (eight children were absent) to write down their goal for the year and describe how they were going to achieve it.

"If we don't have a plan, nothing happens with our goal," she said.

The little boy with the big desire to read wrote: "Rird avre day for 15 manes."

Translation: Read every day for 15 minutes.

Melanie Ave can be reached at 813 226-3400 or melanie@sptimes.com

Hillsborough schools that have at least 90 percent of their students eligible for free and reduced price lunches can offer incentive pay to teachers. The list:

Burney Elementary

Cleveland Elementary

Franklin Middle

Just Elementary

Palm River Elementary

Shaw Elementary

Van Buren Middle

Wimauma Elementary

Cahoon Elementary

DeSoto Elementary

Graham Elementary

Mort Elementary

Potter Elementary

Sheehy Elementary

Booker T. Washington Elementary

Witter Elementary

Clair-Mel Elementary

Edison Elementary

James K-8 School

Oak Park Elementary

Robles Elementary

Sulphur Springs Elementary

West Tampa Elementary