Bekah McNeel is a journalist and reporter from Texas, who primarily writes on topics of education, religion, and immigration. The intended audience of this source is the general public, but it might be particularly meant for the teachers interested in the program discussed. This new incentive encourages Texas teachers to work in poor schools where the negative impacts of COVID-19 had been most devastating. Instead of assessing teachers based on standardizes test scores, the program plans “must include both growth measures and classroom observations”, since test scores tend to be higher in wealthier schools (McNeel). While the average teacher salary in Texas is $57,641, the new program will reward the most talented teachers with payouts of $3,000 to $32,000 per teacher, excluding “additional stipends from clubs, department leadership and athletics” (McNeel).
This source will answer my research question or thesis because the author provides different arguments on the new incentive, such as increasing student growth and teachers’ income, as well as recruiting more talented teachers. At the same time, the author states that such incentive programs are “controversial among teachers”, because they put pressure on teachers; therefore, many districts still prefer to use a standard system of incremental raises (McNeel). Thus McNeel provides different perspectives to analyze in the research.
Work Cited
McNeel, Bekah. “Pay for Some Texas Teachers Will Top $100,000 in Bid to Aid Poorer Schools Devastated by COVID-19.” The Texas Tribune, Web.