Comments about ‘Teacher bonus bill passes House’

I am glad to reward good teachers. Money is tight now and will become much tighter. The voucher bill had the potential to raise teacher salaries, reduce capital expenditures for schools, smaller number of students per classroom. There were problems with the bill. Perhaps it should have said non sectarian schools only. Teachers will have to suffer with the rest of us in the future as far as salaries go. We need innovative ideas to improve our schools

The did this last year with the performance bonus. We had to do extra things to qualify for the bonus in our district. Then they pulled the funding. The old saying applies here, fool me one shame on me, I promise they won't fool me twice.

So when the students decide they don't like the teacher and purposely fail the tests, the teacher can say good bye to 40% of the money s/he had been working for? What if the parents decide a certain teacher is too strict on their children and therefore don't support the teacher? Although these examples probably won't be the norm, they are possible. Especially with some jr. high students I have seen, who are excited when their behavior is so bad that they sent the teacher or sometimes the sub out of the room in tears.

I think when new laws are proposed, one must look at all of the ramifications.

Once again a prescription for failure!!

Just keepin' the man down!!

So there is a shortfall of cash in the education sector. But they are talking about getting rid of the last week of school, MMMMMMMMM!!!

Now legislatures have the nerve to make it look like they are going to help teachers with performance bonus.

LOL got it right. This idea is laughable!! Lets base legislative pay, gifts and pet projects on performance by voting the bad ones (Howard) out!!

Why not just give the money to teachers instead of making them jump through loophole after loophole only to say sorry the money just is not available.

Anything that will reward good teaching is good. It has been my experience that students like good teachers, strict or not. What they don't like is strict teachers who don't like their students.

In the high school I worked at, students would sacrifice and work hard for the demanding teacher who could somehow communicate they liked their students. They would even come on time to that demanding teacher, not because of the threat but because they were worried they would miss something important if they were late.

Then there were other teachers who started their classes late, seemed to like the students, but had students say they weren't getting anything from the class.

As long as performance is based on something other than district wide or school wide achievement, there is merit in rewarding teachers who somehow get achievement from their maybe less motivated students.

ditto to LOL. We'd never see the money.

The teachers make too much already. Who's to say the bonus would ever get to those teachers anyway? It would probably go to the Superintendent's family and friends...Utah schools are overrun with nepotism. Don't tell me other states make more. California is shedding teachers...Nevada got a 6% pay cut and their retired teachers are loosing health insurance...they will have to survive on Medicare. Utah teachers have it pretty good.

Dangle that money all you want. I'm done working for free!

No teacher will ever fall for this ploy again.

When they offered a similar thing this past year, I chose all the options that weren't required to be completed until the end of the year. I even told my fellow teacher, "Be careful what you agree to do because my guess is that we won't ever see this money."

Sure enough just as many were finishing up their agreed to work, the funding was pulled.

Why on earth would they even be suggesting this right now? It just make them look silly and makes the public get mad at the education establishment. Joe Schmoe is losing his job while legislators are offering $300,000 for teacher bonuses? What does that work out to per teacher? $30? I'll donate my portion to Joe Schmoe right now....

Let's see.... We'll eliminate a week of your salary but we'll give you a bonus for more work What's wrong with this picture? You've got to love the legislature...

And I am sure the legislature will use the fact that many teachers won't fall for this again, hence not accepting the "extra" money as a reason to lower, or not raise teacher salaries in the future. They will say, "We TRIED to give the teachers more money, but they didn't want it. They must not need it...."

It is getting quite ridiculous.

Everyone has it right. They tried this before. We lived up to our part and they pulled the funding. Shocker!

If those in education would quit wasting money on unnecessary projects there would be plenty for our schools. I just saw on Granite's website they are hiring for a dual immersion French teacher. French? Really?

I think this plan is off-key. I will teach the State core, love the kids and help them all I can but I don't want my pay set by a popularity contest... For those who think educators get paid to much or have it easy, should try home-schooling their own children.