Change benefits rural areas

• By WILL SENTELL
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Jul 11, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Gov. Bobby Jindal’s plan to spend $20 million on merit and flex pay for public-schoolteachers has turned into a $10 million push solely to address hard-to-fill jobs in rural districts.

The proposal began as something broader and more controversial.

Jindal told lawmakers in his legislative session opening address March 31 that the state should offer teachers $20 million in incentives, both for outstanding work and to lure teachers in math, science and other subjects “where we consistently lag behind.”

Backers said the money would reward innovative educators. Officials of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and the Louisiana Association of Educators opposed the plan, in part because of what union officials called flaws in offering teachers reward money.

But the $10 million that won final legislative approval will be aimed only at rural districts for issues such as narrowing the gap between teacher pay in rural and urban districts, officials said.

Stephen Waguespack, Jindal’s deputy chief of staff, said the final version is consistent with the governor’s proposal.

“When Bobby has gone around the state and talked to these different districts, what he came away with was each superintendent and school board had unique problems,” Waguespack said.

He said the $10 million will allow hard-pressed districts to apply for funds that help them hire math, science and special education teachers.

Educators in rural areas said that, regardless of how Jindal’s plan began, the money will address a major problem.

Superintendent Tom Thrower of Morehouse Parish, which is near the Arkansas border in northeast Louisiana, said his district has problems competing for teachers in  nearby Monroe and other more urban settings.

Thrower said that, while his teachers might collect bonus checks of up to $700 per year from the school district, others nearby can qualify for $4,000 bonuses twice a year.

He said his district will likely apply for some of the $10 million.

“We are always interested in ways we can recruit and retain quality teachers,” Thrower said.