Some schools pass up bonuses: Critics say merit pay plan fosters inequity, but most campuses take the cash.

Byline: Terrence Stutz

Oct. 2--AUSTIN -- More than two dozen Texas schools have rejected state grants to set up a merit pay program for their teachers, deciding it was unfair to pit teacher against teacher in dividing up thousands of dollars in bonus money. Although the vast majority of the 1,161 schools that were awarded grants are expected to take the money and run with merit plans this year, teacher resistance to the idea has remained strong. Critics predict that the nation's biggest incentive pay program will not produce the academic gains that proponents suggest.

Gov. Rick Perry and legislative sponsors, on the other hand, contend the concept will work just as it has worked in business. "It's time to start treating teachers as individual professionals and not as just a monolithic profession. When you reward excellence the same as mediocrity, all too often mediocrity becomes the standard," said Mr. Perry, who has been promoting the program at news conferences in schools across the state. But his sales job has not worked at schools like Bellaire Elementary School in Hurst or Highland Park Elementary…