Apparently, there is a proposal in the Senate to lower the amount of money that the State is going to "donate" to the AP program. The previous State donation to the AP fund was around $66 million but the new donation will only be $33 million.
Within the public comments, there is some discussion regarding the HCPS Superintendent's bonus and how parts of her bonus are tied directly to the AP and IB programs. Two of the public comments referenced this point. A previous article,(link is within the top link above), provides information on how Ms. Elia has "pushed the AP curriculum as much as any superintendent in Florida."
According to the contract, it looks like $750 is attached to percentage point increase of scores of 3 or higher on the AP exam and 4 or higher on the IB exams. There is $500 attached to percentage point increases of AP participation across all races, and then another $500 per percentage point for increased African-American and Hispanic students, both for AP and IB exam taking.
One could make the argument that some groups of students provide more value than other groups, an argument that is usually stifled by the position that the District is "there for all of the students".
One commenter makes the point that Ms. Elia donated her bonus, which is essentially a pay cut:
"MaryEllen donated her AP bonus to the Hillsborough Education Foundation. I think it was about 10% of her salary. Do I hear any other political officers doing the same or any other school administrators making over $100k offering to take a 10% pay cut?
Posted by: JohnM | April 16, 2009 at 11:01 PM"
Prior to reading that statement, I was always under the impression that a "donation" was either a philanthropic act, quid-pro-quo expectation, or tax advantage strategy. Saying that a "donation" is a "pay cut" is something I will have to ponder for a while, because it doesn't seem to fit into my categories.
Any one else have an explanation?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment