District 93 has finally started to recognize the great hard work that many teachers are doing. The district has recently given special recognition to dozens of teachers who have done outstanding at their job.
Forty one teachers were honored and received cash rewards from $500.00 to $4,000.00 for going above and beyond and being rated as some of the best teachers in the district.
We need good teachers here in Idaho Falls, and recognizing a great teacher helping students become better is one way to help keep the great teachers we have, and to help others to want to do better. This year the district put up $50,000.00 towards these outstanding teachers this year. Next year they plan to up $100,000.00.
One of the great teachers recognized was Sandra Bybee. KIFI TV8 quoted Sandra’s reaction to receiving the award: “For a district to do something like this is wonderful because it gives teachers something to work for because it makes me feel like they value what I’ve done.” Sandra said.
However, there will always be those teachers who aren’t recognized who will be upset that others were. And there will always be some who want to pull others down.
It looks like Peggy Christensen is someone doesn’t want these teachers receiving these awards and compensation for their good work. Peggy teaches third graders at Ucon Elementary where she has worked for three years. She also worked her way into the position of president of the teacher’s union. Now it appears she wants the district to stop this recognition of outstanding teachers and have the money divided evenly instead.
Some think dividing up the money is a great idea, others think that simply dividing up the award money evenly among all teachers good and bad encourages mediocrity.
For me, I think our teachers who are doing a great job deserve much more recognition than they are receiving. I hope the other districts in Idaho follow this example and begin recognizing their teachers better. There are certainly more teachers in Pocatello and Blackfoot who deserve this type of recognition.
Peggy Christensen, appears to not be one of the teachers recognized for great performance this year.
Popularity: 14%
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- Update: School District 93 no longer considering a 4-day school week, instead plans to explore other budget and program cuts. Meetings scheduled for next week.
Let's have a new poll, alright, Joe?
:@:)
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I think the awards are a great idea. Maybe they should also set up a donation pot and parents and citizens could donate to the fund so it could include even more teachers next year.
(with 4k available – that kind of makes me want to be a teacher again!)
I don’t know what the criteria were, or who the selection judges were, for the monetary awards given. If I thought it was a fair deal, and not a popularity contest, I’d certainly support the awards and encourage more to be given. I’d want all the teachers to know how they can qualify for this money (so a quietly excellent teacher doesn’t get lost in the shuffle under many so-so but very public personas.)
I’m wondering how this will play out in the future. Again, as long as it doesn’t degenerate into a popularity contest, or into money given because that teacher toed the line or supported the administration, etc…I’m all for it.
The teachers’ union doesn’t do itself any favors when it takes stands like this, unfortunately.
The union is offering the typical resistance….treat everyone the same….thereby rewarding mediocrity or incompetence. Dist 93 has a great idea. I am glad they didn’t let the union spoil it with attempts at socialistic engineering.
That’s why I’ve never liked Unions. It makes no difference if you bust your butt and do a better job than your co-workers so you can advance within a company, everyone is treated the same and gets the same pay raises, incentives, etc. I would never work for a union. I’m all for recognizing those monetarially that go above and beyond.
good post!
I say we get Peggy Christensen out of that position and replace her with somebody who actually cares about the quality of teachers we want in our community and someone who’s interested in rewarding people for jobs well done! Teachers are severely underpaid as it is! This is a great incentive and I hope it continues. I work with a guy who’s wife won “teacher of the year” this past year and she received a 10 thousand dollar bonus. That’s great!
I am not surprised at the reaction from the teachers’ union. Their Marxist regime is all about equality. Tom Luna’s ISTARS program was all about rewarding teachers who were willing to go the extra mile, but the union spewed enough propaganda to convince uninformed teachers that it was not in their best interest. Rewarding hard work is always in the best interest of our students, the tax payers and the teachers who are actually doing their jobs. As citizens we should fight for programs like this statewide!