News Release
November 2, 2006
Secretary Spellings Announces $22.6 Million Grant To Denver Public Schools To Reward Effective Teaching
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced a $22.6 million grant to School District No. 1 for the City and County of Denver to provide financial incentives to teachers and principals who improve student achievement in high-poverty schools. The grant will also be used to recruit effective teachers to those schools, particularly for hard-to-staff subjects like math and science. The grant is expected to be funded for five years for a total of $22,674,393.
"Nothing helps a child learn as much as a great teacher-and research shows that rewarding teachers for results can improve student performance. I am pleased to announce this Teacher Incentive Fund grant to the Denver Public Schools, which will encourage more experienced teachers to work at high-poverty schools where they can make a real difference in raising student achievement," Spellings said.
The Denver Public Schools proposes a twofold district-wide expansion of its Professional Compensation System for Teachers (ProComp). First, DPS will develop, implement, and evaluate a performance-based compensation system for principals through a national strategic partnership with New Leaders for New Schools. Second, DPS will strengthen its professional development, information and technology, and student assessment systems to ensure ProComp is consistently and rigorously implemented district-wide.
TEACHER INCENTIVE GRANTS
Funded for the first time in 2006, the Teacher Incentive Fund program is President Bush's initiative to develop and implement performance-based teacher and principal compensation systems in high-need, disadvantaged schools, where at least 30 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The goals of the program are to improve student achievement by increasing the effectiveness of principals and teachers, and, at the same time, increase the number of effective teachers for minority and disadvantaged students. A total of 16 grants will be awarded for a total of $42,078,259. Another $43.1 million will be awarded in spring 2007. For more information about the Teacher Incentive Fund visit http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherincentive/faq.html