Teachers Plan to Share the Wealth

When Oxnard teacher Ann Ramirez saw the aftermath of last month’s terrorist attacks on the East Coast, she wanted to give money. But as a working single mom, she did not have any to spare.

So when Ramirez, a teacher at Parkview Elementary School in Port Hueneme, found out she would be among hundreds of Ventura County educators to receive a financial bonus from the state for significantly boosting Stanford 9 test scores, she knew what she would do with a good chunk of it.

“It’s still hard to believe something like this [terrorism] could ever happen,” said Ramirez, whose school will receive more than $383,000 to distribute among teachers and other staff members. “Now, I’ll at least feel like I was able to do something.”

Parkview, which is in the Hueneme Elementary School District, was among four low-ranking schools in the county to raise test scores enough to become eligible for rewards equal to $10,000 cash per full-time staff member. Five other schools in the county are expected to get $5,000-per-educator awards in the coming weeks.

While some teachers said they would use the windfall for long-overdue home-improvement projects, their children’s college funds or for vacations, many said they intended to make donations.

“I know several here are planning to contribute to the charities supporting the relief effort in New York,” said Parkview’s principal, Deborah DeSmeth.

To qualify for the bonuses, a school had to be ranked in the state’s bottom half of performers and show progress in test scores in 1999 and 2000. In 2000, the school had to show an improvement of at least double its annual growth target for the cash rewards.

More than 12,000 educators at 304 schools statewide will share in the state’s $100-million pot of money, which will be distributed in $25,000, $10,000 and $5,000 increments.

In Ventura County, 272 educators--including teachers, principals, librarians and other staff members--will receive about $1.8 million in awards. The program, a key feature of Gov. Gray Davis’ testing and accountability campaign, has generated criticism because it represents the highest monetary stakes ever attached to a single test.

“I have mixed feelings about it, because I know all of our teachers work very hard,” Hueneme Supt. Robert Fraisse said. “Some are getting $10,000, while others are working just as hard but are getting nothing.”

And those who will receive the cash have waited awhile for it, prompting many teachers to not get too excited before a check lands in their hands.

“We don’t even want to think about it until we see it,” said Carol Barringer, principal at Piru Elementary School, whose 20 teachers are to get $5,000 bonuses. “The state has been slow figuring it out.”

The payments, originally scheduled to be mailed in June, were held up mostly by a lawsuit filed in March by some teachers in Sacramento who felt the awards should be given after one year of improvement rather than two. The state won the case, though the teachers have appealed.

By the end of next week, the award checks should go out to school district offices, which will distribute the money to individual educators, said Patrick Chladek, manager of the awards unit in the state’s education department.

For Ramirez, who has been teaching in elementary schools for 30 years, the money represents validation for coming in before classes, staying late and constantly fine-tuning lesson plans.

“It’s just amazing,’ she said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever gotten that much money in one fell swoop--ever. I’ve never seen anything like this.”