EVANSVILLE — Most EVSC teachers used to receive state-funded Teacher Appreciation Grants (TAG) of a few hundred dollars — but this year most will get nothing even though the school corporation is trying to spread the money as widely as possible.
It’s not that EVSC’s allotment of TAG money is that much less than in previous years. An Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) projection says EVSC likely will receive $782,145. Last year’s figure was $787,897.
But the state budget formula adopted by the Indiana General Assembly last year reconfigured the way TAG money is distributed to give far more money than teachers had been receiving — to far fewer of them. Under the previous program evaluation metrics, about 90% of EVSC’s teacher workforce were receiving $548.28 stipends if rated “highly effective” by building administrators and $438.62 if rated “effective.”…