HARD WORK, RECOGNIZED AND CELEBRATED
CMSD TEACHERS IN HIGH-PERFORMING SCHOOLS RECEIVE BONUS PAY FROM TIPP PROGRAM
For Marissa Hackler, a 27-year-old Spanish teacher at Columbus High School, the month between December and January is what she calls “the death period.”
“We get paid on the last (work) day in December,” Hackler said, “and we don’t get paid again until the end of January. It’s a really hard time for people like teachers.”
But just before last Christmas, Hackler received a bonus pay of $1,500 from the Columbus Municipal School District as a result of the Teachers Incentives Pay Plan, a program the board implemented in 2018 to reward employees at high-performing schools.
The TIPP program awards extra pay to all staff at schools that have improved or maintained their accountability ratings, a performance measuring mechanism of the Mississippi Department of Education. A total of 156 employees at CHS as well as Stokes Beard Elementary School received $181,354.40 in incentives, said district superintendent Cherie Labat. Last year, CHS’s rating improved from the level of C to B. That meant $1,500 more for each full-time teacher, $750 for each assistant teacher and $250 for every support staff. Teachers will each receive $2,000 if the school’s rating improves to A.
Hackler invested part of the money she received back into her classroom, buying readers, decorative stickers and other school supplies for her students.
“I love teaching, I love seeing my kids succeed,” Hackler said. “(It) is really rewarding to see them use it.”
She also bought new books for the 15-minute silent reading session she designed for her class and the students are thrilled about them.
Josie Moore, a math teacher in special education, invested that money differently. She bought gifts for her first great grandson, who was born two days after she received the incentives. Any bonus she received went mostly toward her grandchildren, Moore said. And for some of them, she said, she feels the need to invest in their education.
“Education means a lot,” Moore said. “To know that we were receiving an incentive for something that I enjoy doing, that I could help people that I love, it meant a whole lot.”
Teachers from Stokes Beard Elementary School saw the school’s accountability rating jump from F to B last year. As a result, 23 certified teachers at the school received incentives in addition to other staff, said Stokes Beard Principal Tanesha Jennings. It took a whole team of teachers to accomplish that goal, said Regina Wash, a third-grade teacher at the school.
“Last year…(it was) all hands on deck,” Wash said. “There was no ‘This is my class, this is your class,’ It was everybody’s class. “Everybody worked with the students,” she said. “They became the whole school’s students.”
Wash said she worked hard to communicate with students and helped third-graders to score a level 3 in reading in order to be promoted to the fourth grade. The school set up one-on-one to one-on-five sessions for students to learn about their deficits and how to improve their grades.
The school also had literacy nights for parents, who received sample test questions given by the state Department of Education. Upon receiving the incentives, Wash said that was “honest money … that we worked hard for.” She used some of that money to buy her son a Nintendo Switch. “I didn’t spend a dime (of that) on myself,” she said.
The program is a great gesture on the CMSD’s part, Jennings said, to let the teachers know how much they are appreciated. Eyeing the end of this year, Jennings said the goal is to improve the grade to A, “That’s what we strive for every day.”
Chapman set the same goal for CHS. At the very least, the school needs to maintain the current rating. He credited the earning of the incentives to the team effort of all employees. “I just want a team,” Chapman said. “Everybody is gonna play a part.”
Labat said the first year of the TIPP program has been a success. “The TIPP program incentivizes all employees to promote student achievements and do what’s in the best interest to the students.”
STORY BY STELLA YU
PHOTOS BY LEDRICO ISAAC
