New bonus payments aimed at attracting and keeping good teachers in Florida have gone disproportionately to those who work with students from affluent families, an analysis by a Florida newspaper has found.
Teachers who received bonuses under the $44 million “best and brightest” teacher-scholarship program started last year were more than twice as likely to work with students from affluent families than with students living in poverty, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
The analysis found that for every 954 students in a high-poverty school this year, there was only one bonus-winning teacher. But the ratio was far less for those schools with students from more affluent homes, one “best and brightest” teacher for every 398 students.
