A controversial Florida state law limits how new teachers may receive bonus pay based on advanced degrees, preventing an art teacher, for example, from earning a bonus for having a Ph.D. in English, the Huffington Post reports. Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, one of the law’s co-authors, says the Student Success Act of 2011 was designed to incentivize teachers to focus on student results, and includes not compensating teachers for advanced degrees that do not directly translate to student learning. Brevard Public Schools have taken the law to mean that degrees must correspond to teaching certificates for all new teachers, Florida Today reports. Previously, teachers received a stipend — which can go as high as $5,200 for a doctorate — just on the basis of possessing an advanced degree in any subject. The law has sparked outrage among more than a third of 141 new teachers hired by Brevard Public Schools this past year, including 25-year-old Scott Johnson…
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