Federal Federal File

Bonus Round

By Michelle R. Davis — December 06, 2005 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

There’s a group of people at the Department of Education whom employees might want to be especially nice to in the next few weeks.

They’re the members of the department’s Performance Review Board, formed recently to help rate just how well members of the Senior Executive Service, which includes top career employees and political appointees, are doing their jobs and determine what their bonuses and salary increases should be.

A lot is at stake. Last year, Education Week found that some Education Department employees were awarded bonuses as high as $71,000 for 2003. Other bonuses for high-ranking employees ranged from $10,000 to $46,900. (“Most in Ed. Dept. Are Paid Bonuses for Performance,” Sept. 1, 2004.)

There were a few complaints. Employee-union members complained that there were no established criteria for awarding the bonuses and that the amounts in some cases seemed arbitrary.

Critics also complained about large bonuses specifically for political appointees, saying the practice sent the wrong message to career employees with lower salaries. President Bill Clinton had barred bonuses for political employees during his tenure in part for that reason, but in March 2002, the White House under President Bush issued a memo saying political employees were again eligible.

Now, in response to a regulation issued in October 2004 by the Office of Personnel Management, federal agencies must establish performance-review boards to rate individuals’ performance and make decisions on compensation, said Kevin R. Walter, an OPM spokesman.

The Education Department’s plan was certified earlier this year, and this is the first time the review board at the department will do its job, he said.

Kevin F. Sullivan, the department’s assistant secretary for outreach and communication, said the board met for the first time last week and is starting the process of reviewing assessments of employees. It won’t make recommendations for several weeks, and Mr. Sullivan said it would be premature to talk about the process until it’s complete.

But the board members will presumably be insulated from any bald attempts by employees to curry favor. So department employees shouldn’t attempt to sway them by giving them coveted parking spaces, putting designer coffee in their mugs, or making sure they don’t have to go begging for Post-Its.

Related Tags:

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reflections on Evidence-Based Grading Practices: What We Learned for Next Year
Get real insights on evidence-based grading from K-12 leaders.
Content provided by Otus
Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Federal Webinar Navigating the Rapid Pace of Education Policy Change: Your Questions, Answered
Join this free webinar to gain an understanding of key education policy developments affecting K-12 schools.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal Viral AI Gaffe and Ed. Dept. Cuts: How Educators View Linda McMahon So Far
Here's what educators think about the education secretary's performance so far.
6 min read
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon speaks at the ASU+GSV Summit at the Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego on April 8, 2025.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon speaks at the ASU+GSV Summit at the Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego on April 8, 2025.
Ariana Drehsler for Education Week
Federal Inside Trump's Full-Force Approach to Ban Trans Athletes and DEI in Schools
Trump’s return to the White House has brought a new era of aggressive investigations of entities that flout the president's orders.
8 min read
Education Secretary Linda McMahon accompanied by Attorney General Pam Bondi, right, speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon, accompanied by Attorney General Pam Bondi, right, speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. The pair were announcing a lawsuit against the state of Maine over state policies that allow transgender athletes to compete in girls' sports.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Federal Letter to the Editor Public Education Benefits the American Worker and the American Economy
Our nation’s schools are central to our nation’s health and future, says this letter to the editor.
1 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week
Federal Opinion Federal Education Research Has Been 'Shredded.' What's Driving This?
How to understand why the Trump administration's axe fell so heavily on the Institute of Education Sciences.
8 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week