Everybody’s a winner in DC’s high-achieving schools

Principals, teachers and staffers—including custodians—at three Washginton, DC, public schools where students’ test scores rose more than 20% last year received $500,000 in cash awards, delivered by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty on December 18. Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee doled out the gifts from a federal program to the first winners of the Together Everyone Achieves More, or TEAM, awards. The schools recognized were Barnard, Noyes and Tyler elementary schools.

As word of the awards spread, several teachers tried to calculate how much each would receive out of a single $8,000 check. They were surprised to learn that each one would get that amount. Principals of the three schools received $10,000 each; assistant principals, $9,000. Librarians and guidance counselors at the schools received $4,000. The schools’ support staff members, including cafeteria workers, each received $2,000. Read more in The Washington Post.