Records: $645K In Bonuses Paid To Schools Named In Scandal

ATLANTA,None — Channel 2 Action News has obtained records detailing bonuses paid to teachers and staff at schools implicated in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal.

Records Detail Bonuses Paid To APS Staff, Teachers

Channel 2's Tom Regan put in a request for the documents on bonus payments two weeks ago. He received the records on Tuesday and has been poring over the documents.

Regan said the documents detail bonuses that were paid out from January 2009 to the present.

According to the documents, performance bonuses ranged from $100 to $1,500.

Virtually the entire staff, teachers, principals, permanent substitutes and secretaries got bonuses when the school reached performance goals for testing and attendance.

Regan found that 15 of the 44 schools named in the cheating scandal received a total of $645,000 in bonuses.

What Channel 2 doesn't know is how much of that money was from corporate contributions and how much was paid by taxpayers.

The president of the Fulton County Taxpayers Association said bonuses for teachers send the wrong message.

“It's a monetary incentive instead of a normal job performance. That's what's expected of a school teacher. To teach the kids to pass the test," said John Sherman.

WSBTV