Browse > Home / Education / District Hopes Bonuses Will Attract Top Teachers

District Hopes Bonuses Will Attract Top Teachers

June 28, 2007

By FRANK TREJO / The Dallas Morning News

Some things speak louder than words.

That’s what Cedar Hill school district officials are counting on as they launch a new “sign-on bonus” program designed to attract the best qualified teachers in the most crucial fields to their campuses.

Starting this month, district officials are offering bonuses of $3,000 to $7,500 for teachers hired for the 2007-08 school year in areas such as math, science, Spanish and bilingual education. The top amount is for teachers who have a master’s degree in math or science.

While offering such bonuses is not uncommon in the area, Cedar Hill ISD’s appear to be substantially larger than others.

James Henderson, assistant superintendent of personnel for the district, said the program has been spearheaded by Superintendent Horace Williams, who was hired earlier this year.

“He wanted to do something that was going to attract the best and brightest teachers to fill some of our most critical needs,” Mr. Henderson said. “We looked at what other districts were offering and decided we had to do better.”

Cedar Hill ISD, which has about 8,000 students, is looking for 33 new teachers and is willing to spend up to $147,000 on bonuses to sign them by July 13, Mr. Henderson said.

The effort is drawing praise from Angela Trevino, a longtime district and community volunteer who has four daughters in Cedar Hill schools. She also is president of the district’s PTA council.

“I am so excited about the positive changes being made in our district with our new administration,” Ms. Trevino said. “I’m glad our administration had the foresight to see the need for this. … We are well on our way to becoming a premier school district.”

While some nearby school districts provide annual stipends on top of salaries for teachers in certain key areas, not all districts offer signing bonuses, and those that do offer smaller bonuses than those in Cedar Hill.

Duncanville ISD offers signing bonuses for bilingual education and special education, as well as math, science and foreign languages, said district communications director Tammy Kuykendall. The bonuses range from $3,000 to $5,000.

Duncanville teachers in those areas also receive annual stipends of $1,000 to $5,000.

“This absolutely has helped in recruiting and retaining teachers,” Ms. Kuykendall said.

DeSoto ISD provides $3,000 annual stipends for high school math and science teachers, $2,800 stipends for bilingual education teachers and varying stipends for special education instructors, said communications director Beth Trimble.

Lancaster Superintendent Larry Lewis said that although his school district does not offer signing bonuses, it does offer an annual stipend for teachers in bilingual education. The district is working on adding stipends for math and science and possibly for secondary Spanish, he said. As with bilingual education, amounts will probably range from $2,000 to $4,000.

The Dallas school district is offering $1,000 bonuses for all teachers hired before June 30, said Linda Chance, the district’s executive director for employment. Teachers in bilingual education, special education, math and science receive an additional $500 at signing.

Teachers with dual certification also receive a $1,500 bonus.

DISD also offers annual stipends of $500 to $4,000 in areas such as English as a second language, special education and bilingual education.

Cedar Hill ISD officials noted that they also offer annual stipends of $2,500 for teachers of Spanish and bilingual education. But it’s the signing bonuses that they hope will draw attention from potential employees.

“We really believe this is a trailblazing and cutting-edge program,” Mr. Henderson said. “As far as we know, there are not any districts around here with signing bonuses as high as $7,500.”

Similar Posts

Comments