Earlier this month, legislators set out to clarify which teachers would receive performance-based bonuses within the public school system.

Although Senate Bill 169 was crafted to correct a potentially unfair restriction in the original legislation from 2016, it also brings to light differing opinions on these particular performance-based rewards.

In its 2016 session, the North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation that awards teachers of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses $50 for each student who passes the exam, with a cap at $2,000 per teacher.

In another section of the law, third-grade teachers with high student-score growth would also receive bonuses if their scores fell into the top-25 percent of growth scores in the state, as well as in the local district. Third-grade teachers could be eligible for both.

However, both sections outline another requirement that teachers must “remain employed teaching third grade (or teaching advanced courses) in the same local school administrative unit at least from the school year the data is collected until the corresponding school year that the bonus is paid.” Senate Bill 169 looks to amend this restriction, allowing teachers who have been moved to other grades or courses in the 2016-2017 year to remain eligible for the bonuses from 2015-2016.

The issue among educators remains — is basing teacher performance off of test scores a fair way to do so?

Tina Petty, a math teacher who teaches AP Calculus at Southside High School, said she thinks this type of performance scale is unfair to many teachers for a variety of reasons.

“It is not fair because teachers in the larger cities will have the chance to earn thousands of dollars compared to those of us in smaller cities who may only have the chance to earn a couple hundred. They have so many more students taking AP classes than the small rural school,” Petty explained. “We are doing the same job. They also have students who are more advanced and capable of scoring well, whereas I have a lot of students who are not quite as strong in math but are taking the course because they know they need it to prepare for college.”

Petty said it also leaves out those teachers who teach other courses outside Advanced Placement, or third grade, and may experience more problems with student behavior. Along with calculus, Petty also teaches advanced functions and modeling, pre-calculus and statistics.

“They are having to try and teach students who have excessive absences or who just don’t care, but they are not being rewarded for their job,” Petty said. “If you teach a lower-level class, you are working even harder to motivate your students and many times getting lower test scores.”

Dr. Don Phipps, superintendent of Beaufort County Schools, said he thinks performance-based bonuses can be positive if applied clearly and fairly, but he also sees the good and the bad.

“I can see very clearly the pluses and the minuses for it,” Phipps said. “I wish that we could have the money to award people on a merit basis what they deserve (across the board).”

He said he especially sees the benefits of rewarding the third-grade teachers for reading growth because of the potential for a double bonus, and he thinks student growth is a better measure of performance.

“There are lots of other performance measures that could be used,” he said. “Again, you’ve got to start somewhere.”

Phipps said that in an ideal situation, these types of bonuses could be extended to other grades or even entire schools, but there are no funds to do that at this point.

Put simply, it’s a matter of doing the best with what one has.