Bonus program has Florida teachers scrambling for SAT, ACT scores

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A teacher bonus program set up by the state has teachers scrambling for their SAT and ACT scores. For those who never took those tests, Saturday is their last chance.

Some veteran teachers went to community college after high school and weren't required to take the standardized tests. Scores need to be submitted by Oct. 1 to individual school districts.

At Solution Skills Educational Services, they are all about test prep.

The SAT and ACT tutoring center usually deals with high school kids. But this year in Florida, teachers across the state may have needed some test prep.

The Best and Brightest Scholarship set up by the Legislature looked to reward Florida teachers with a bonus up to $10,000, but only if you had top SAT or ACT scores.

The tricky part for teachers is that they have to dig up those SAT and ACT scores from years ago, and in other cases some educators never took the test at all.

"There are some teachers who say it's an insult, that what they do in the classroom now and how they help students achieve ought to be the reason they're getting a pay raise," Mark Pudlow, of the Florida Education Association.

Pudlow said the teacher's union has been trying to help educators who may need to take the test.

"There's some people who asked about that, but there's a real small window of opportunity on that," Pudlow said. "All the paperwork and the documentation has to be into the DOE by Oct. 1."

Sept. 12 is the only date available for the ACT before the deadline. The SAT's first available date is Oct. 3, two days after scores need to be submitted for the bonus.

Randy Vickers, of Solution Skills, said taking the high pressure tests can be difficult for anyone regardless of age.

"People often hate tests, so that's why they come to a company like us to calm their nerves, but also to refresh the material they're afraid they're not going to remember," Vickers said.

Teacher's scores need to be above the 80th percentile of all test takers when the exam was taken in order to qualify for the extra money.