HOUSTON -- The salary of some of Houston's best teachers will increase by thousands after the Houston Independent School District's board members unanimously approved a new bonus system Thursday that rewards educators based on the performance of their students, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Board members voted 9-0 Thursday in favor of approving the $14.5 million plan in which teachers could earn up to three bonuses for a total of $3,000 a year due to the success of their students.

The approval makes HISD, the state's largest and the nation's seventh largest school district, to reward teachers for their students' performance. More than 200,000 students attend HISD schools.

"I think the real winners are the students, and along with the students are teachers as well," HISD Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said. "I think it is time that not only this district but, quite frankly, every district in this country start looking at a different way that we can compensate our professionals."

The bonuses are based on school performance, individual teacher performance and classroom performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills tests. Non-core subject teachers, educators whose performance cannot be based on their students' test scores, will also have the opportunity to earn the bonuses.

"What this program is all about is trying to pay our best teachers the highest salaries," Saavedra said.

Previously, teacher pay was based on experience and educators had the opportunity to receive bonuses if the state rated their school as an “Exemplary” or “Recognized" campus. But those ratings allowed some of the district's under-performing educators at the recognized campuses to make the same as the district's best teachers.

Former teacher and mother Elizabeth Pagan said she is worried that student test scores will be solely used for determining if a teacher is eligible for the bonus.

"I think there would be a real tendency for teachers to teach the test rather than teach their students," Pagan told KPRC Local 2.

Saavedra disagreed.

"Teaching to the test is no longer possible, in my opinion, under the new TAKS program. I mean, you might do it, but I don't think you will be successful," Saavedra said.

Other critics worried the program was hastily put together.

'It's been done in a vacuum. It's confusing. It has no clear goals and it's not a statistically sound program. There's no good research base saying it works," Houston Federation of Teachers Gayle Fallon said.

A group of 25 teachers and district board members worked collaboratively to create the performance-pay plan, which will use the following guidelines to award the bonuses:

School Performance: Bonuses awarded in this category are based on the school's state accountability rating and how well the school performs compared with 40 other schools with similar demographics around the state.
Individual Teacher Performance: Teachers whose students show yearly improvement on the Standford and Aprenda tests can earn bonuses if the students' progress increases from the previous year as compared to students in similar HISD classrooms. Non-core teachers could earn smaller bonuses if the campus shows improvement from the previous year as compared to students in HISD schools with similar demographics.
Classroom Performance: TAKS scores will be used to reward teachers whose students show improvement for progress from one year to the next in reading and math. Teachers who work with students who have not taken the TAKS in previous years, such as third- and fifth-grade science teachers or eighth-grade social studies teachers, would receive the bonus if their students show progress on the TAKS test compared to the scores students made on the same campus the previous year. Non-core teachers are not eligible for this bonus.

More than 12,000 teachers are eligible for the program.

Saavedra said he hopes to build the program so that the district's best teachers could earn up to $10,000 in annual performance bonuses.

District officials said the plan could serve as a model for other school districts around the country.