Hillsborough sets aside $15M for educators at low-performing schools
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The Hillsborough County School Board agreed to earmark around $15 million to maintain a bonus structure for employees at more than three dozen low-performing schools in the district, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Why it matters: The bonuses can help retain and attract talent at the district's most vulnerable schools, where academic performance is low and more attention is needed to close achievement gaps.
Catch up quick: The Transformation Network began in 2020 to provide extra support, including bonuses, to teachers and paraprofessionals at schools with chronic low performance.
- The network included 45 schools in its first year and will have 39 this year, per the Times.
Zoom in: The approved bonus structure allows: $5,000 for teachers and assistant principals, $7,500 for principals and $1,000 for paraprofessionals at schools within the Transformation Network.
- Teachers eligible for a state bonus are limited to a combined $5,000 from both the state and district, according to the Times.
Friction point: Teachers and board members, while supportive of the agreement, raised concerns about funding for what are known as Renaissance schools, designated by income level, not performance.
- Board member Nadia Combs said she worries that without additional funds, low-income schools could slip into low performance, per the Times.
- Renaissance schools are those where 90% or more of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Teachers at these schools received a salary differential in the 2024–25 school year.
- There were 26 Renaissance schools in the 2024–25 school year. In recent weeks, some teachers say they've heard colleagues thinking about leaving those schools.