WA high schools lose $13 million grant for AP teachers

Seven Washington high schools won't be getting their share of a $13.2 million grant to enhance the teaching of Advanced Placement courses in math in science.

Washington state won the grant last year, but stakeholders haven't been able to figure out how to embrace the project that would include a financial incentive for teachers who improve test scores and for the time they spend in training.

The Dallas-based National Math & Science Initiative wanted to pay teachers directly. But Washington's collective-bargaining laws require that teacher pay be negotiated between unions and school districts.

"We worked hard to try to find middle ground," state Rep. Bill Fromhold, D-Vancouver, who was working with the group implementing Washington's grant, told The Seattle Times. "We got caught in the middle of the grant requirements and the collective-bargaining laws in the state of Washington that have to be followed."

The organization's grants in six other states - Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Virginia - are going forward.

Officials at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which provided $10 million for the effort, expressed disappointment that Washington state couldn't find a solution, noting that some of the other states involved have teachers unions, too.

"Honestly, I can't figure out why they couldn't solve this," said Steve Seleznow, the foundation's program director for education.

The pay elements of the program were clear from the beginning, said NMSI spokeswoman Rena Pederson, adding that her group "tried to be as flexible as possible." Pederson said her organization felt direct teacher incentives were essential to the program's success.

Rich Wood, spokesman for the Washington Education Association, said outside groups can't just set up a new system for paying local teachers.

"That's not how it works in our state," Wood said.

The WEA, he said, was particularly concerned about tying teacher pay directly to student test scores.

About 22 percent of the $13.2 million would have been spent on extra pay for teachers, according to the Dallas group.

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Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com