Studer Community Institute

Scholarships for teachers part of state budget

June 18, 2015
/ Shannon Nickinson
/ education

The budget finalized this week by legislative leaders includes $44 million that would be used to award "scholarships" of as much as $10,000 to teachers based on their SAT or ACT scores. Santa Rosa School Superintendent Tim Wyrosdick said the idea was news to him. “We knew nothing about this until it appeared in the final budget,” Wyrosdick said. “The State of Florida estimates we have about 4,400 teachers who are eligible across the state. I have no idea how many, (if any) would be in Santa Rosa County. The compilation of ACT/SAT scores with the highly effective rating is an interesting concept.” The House approved a bill (HB 587) during this spring's regular legislative session that would have created the "Florida Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarship Program," but the measure did not pass the Senate. It resurfaced in the special session called to approve a budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. House and Senate leaders finished negotiating the spending plan late Monday, and the full House and Senate are expected to vote on the budget Friday. Under the scholarship provision, a maximum of 4,402 teachers could be eligible for $10,000 scholarships "based on high academic achievement on the SAT or ACT." The teachers would have to show that they scored at or above the 80th percentile on the college-entrance exams at the time they were tested. Current teachers also would have to show that they have been evaluated as "highly effective." Escambia School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas said 25 to 30 percent of his teachers are rated "highly effective." At this time Florida DOE has not released guidance on this item. "It appears the impact will be very limited," Thomas said via email. "Four thousand awards statewide is a small number. I do not know if this is a true scholarship to offset current tuition for the teachers or if it will be another performance pay incentive. "On this one I will have to wait for additional guidance on the implementation." If the number of teachers exceeds 4,402, the scholarship amounts would be prorated. Basically, Wyrosdick said, it would be an incentive to be highly effective since it has been years since most of our teachers took the SAT or ACT as a college entrance exam. It may be an incentive for new teachers to consider moving to Florida if they had the acceptable ACT/SAT score, Wyrosdick said. News Service of Florida contributed to this report.

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Scholarships for teachers part of state budget

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