Gov. Robert F. McDonnell of Virginia has invited 57 districts with struggling schools to apply for $3 million in state funding for merit pay.
Under the plan, a teacher could earn up to $5,000. At least 40 percent of each evaluation would be tied to student academic performance, including improvements in standardized-test scores, and schools would be required to adopt teacher-appraisal systems aligned with state-approved method.
Critics have said such merit-pay initiatives haven’t boosted student performance.
