System rewards teachers

State education officials are taking the first steps today toward creating a reward system to recognize schools, teachers and districts making strides in closing the achievement gap or exhibiting exceptional annual progress.

The Department of Education is proposing that the state create a task force of education stakeholders to develop the reward system to be implemented in April 2004.

The reward system is a required accountability component of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), but the state has the authority to create bonuses and recognition as a part of their system.

The U.S. Department of Education is just beginning to receive information about how other states are implementing the rewards, according to Kerri Briggs, special assistant to the secretary in the U.S Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.