Concerns & Questions About The “Talent Transfer Initiative”
The Sacramento City Unified School District is one of a number of districts in the country participating in a federally-funded program called The Talent Transfer Initiative. This program, which I just learned about, pays selected teachers a $20,000 bonus to transfer to a targeted “high-needs school.”
Though I’ve written about my general concerns about extrinsic motivation and financial rewards, that’s not my primary question. After all, teachers who work at high-needs schools have been able to get their student-loans forgiven (as mine were), but I suspect that isn’t a huge reason why people choose to work there.
And, to tell you the truth, I’m not overly concerned right now about how it will be used in our district. I think our Superintendent will try his best to avoid some of the potential dangers that drove me to write this post. However, I’m not so sure about how it will be applied in other districts (and will be very interested in hearing from others who might know more).
One issue is the criteria used to determine eligible teachers. It appears, and I may be wrong, that it’s primarily focused on test scores. I’m not convinced that test scores are the best way to judge teacher quality. On top of
Though I’ve written about my general concerns about extrinsic motivation and financial rewards, that’s not my primary question. After all, teachers who work at high-needs schools have been able to get their student-loans forgiven (as mine were), but I suspect that isn’t a huge reason why people choose to work there.
And, to tell you the truth, I’m not overly concerned right now about how it will be used in our district. I think our Superintendent will try his best to avoid some of the potential dangers that drove me to write this post. However, I’m not so sure about how it will be applied in other districts (and will be very interested in hearing from others who might know more).
One issue is the criteria used to determine eligible teachers. It appears, and I may be wrong, that it’s primarily focused on test scores. I’m not convinced that test scores are the best way to judge teacher quality. On top of
