State to teachers: Bonus check's in the mail

By Dave Weber | Sentinel Staff Writer
April 6, 2009

Top Florida teachers who have been waiting months for promised bonuses wonder whether the state is going to stiff them, although officials who have been putting them off say the check will be in the mail soon.

Nearly 12,700 teachers who have earned prestigious certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards each are due a $5,051 bonus. The state set up the annual bonuses several years ago to encourage teachers to go through the rigorous yearlong training leading to certification. ...

"My husband and I budget our money and made plans on how we were going to pay our bills," said Megan Pankiewicz, an English teacher at Winter Springs High in Seminole County. "This is adding stress that I didn't anticipate."

The bonuses were to be paid in January but were delayed because of the state's falling revenues and resulting fiscal crisis. Then they were to come in February, teachers were assured.

But a few days ago the Department of Education notified districts that the bonus was hung up because Gov. Charlie Crist told state agencies to hold back 15 percent of spending for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, which ends in June. With state revenues continuing to drop, officials want to create a cushion.

Pankiewicz is uncertain whether she ever will see her bonus.

"If the state of Florida says it is going to pay this money at a certain time, you would think it would," she said. ...

"The teachers are very anxious and I understand that," said Carolyn Hevey, who is in charge of the National Board certification program for Seminole schools.

With the tough economy, the state already had cut in half the bonus for many National Board certified teachers. They are due a second $5,000 a year if they guide other teachers in improving classroom instruction, but the Legislature suspended the payment for 2008-09.

The state also cut its 90 percent reimbursement of the $2,500 fee to enter the program, which trains teachers to improve their instruction and then judges whether they have succeeded before awarding certification.

During a special session in January the Legislature tried to cut bonus payments more, but the plan was vetoed by Crist, who has said he is a supporter of the program. ...

Florida has the second highest number of National Board certified teachers in the nation, with only North Carolina having more. In December another 1,826 Florida teachers were certified.

But with the cuts in bonuses and reimbursement for fees, few Florida teachers this year are working toward certification. Only about 500 are going through the process, and fewer than half who try typically win certification.
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