Foul! Florida teachers with top students earn most bonus pay

Predictably, Florida's bonus system for rewarding the "best and brightest" teachers best serves those whose students hail from affluent families, an Orlando Sentinel analysis found.

Teachers toiling in high-poverty, Title 1 schools, which receive federal aid for enrolling a high percentage of children from low-income families, are far less likely to earn bonuses from the $44 million pot of money in the state's "Best and Brightest" teacher scholarship program.

Research shows the income gap between high- and low-income families has expanded as has the achievement gap between those ranks of children. Stanford research also showed "family income is now nearly as strong as parental education in predicting children's achievement."

Florida's Legislature and governor could not have been blind to these conclusion when creating the bonus program last year.

The Sentinel report shines a light on the program's failure to leverage change in the inequitable distribution of quality teachers.

Bonuses, at $8,250 this year for each winning teacher, require educators got high scores on both the ACT and SAT exams as well as a "highly effective" performance evaluation.

How wide is the bonus disparity between poor and affluent schools? There was only one bonus-winning educator for every 954 students in high poverty schools. That ratio was 1 teacher per 398 students from more affluent homes.

This flawed program rightfully received sharp criticism during its formation. This fact-based analysis proves the critics correct.

But the Legislature won't be dissuaded from this misguided program -- $49 million has already been earmarked for the next school year. Then lawmakers should fix this inequity.

This story was originally published April 23, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Foul! Florida teachers with top students earn most bonus pay ."