Sanford released his proposed 2005-06 budget to state lawmakers this week and included several cuts to education programs while raising per-student funding from $1,852 to $2,213.
Sanford's budget calls for National Board Certified Teachers who work in "critical needs schools or topics" to continue to receive the $7,500 yearly bonus from the state.
Teachers working in low-performing schools who receive their certification after this year will receive only $3,000 annually, according to the budget plan. The 3,800 South Carolina teachers who are already certified will continue to receive the $7,500 bonus.
Sanford's budget cites a lack of conclusive research on the effect of national board certification on student achievement and a disproportionate number of nationally certified teachers in higher income areas as reasons for slashing the stipend.
Savings from cutting future bonuses would be diverted to general per-pupil spending.
Cyndi Pride, the Beaufort County School District's teacher training and advancement coordinator, said there are studies that show teachers who pursue certification "fine tune" their craft and become better teachers.
Beaufort County is home to 90 of the state's 3,800 certified teachers.
Cutting the stipend will negatively impact teachers' willingness to become certified, Pride said.
"This emphasizes the fact that money can be taken away at any time," she said.
Teachers are less willing to spend the two years applying for certification if the salary bonus is not a guarantee.
"Putting the qualifiers in that say who can get (the full bonus) and where they can get it will limit the number of teachers participating and take away teachers from schools that are already performing well," Pride said.
On the up side, the governor's budget would increase average teacher's salary to $300 more than the Southeastern average, $42,437.
"It's good to see the recommended increase in teacher salary," said Jim Foster, spokesman for S.C. Department of Education, "especially for districts on state lines, like Beaufort."
A salary increase in border districts would allow schools to attract and keep teachers who may otherwise make more money in Georgia or North Carolina, he said.
The budget also will reduce the money spent on testing and assessment by $2.7 million from $23.7 million to $21 million. Working with the Education Oversight Committee and the Education Department to improve testing procedures and secure less expensive testing contracts should help provide testing accountability at a lower cost, according to the budget proposal.
Ginger Hopkins, the district's assistant superintendent for academics and accountability, said there are ways to make standardized testing procedures more efficient that would save money but that Beaufort County schools won't feel the effects of statewide assessment budget cuts.
"These cuts are not going to significantly impact (the school district)," Hopkins said.
However, cutting millions of dollars for assessment programs is not the answer to increasing their efficiency, said Randy Wall, interim principal at Whale Branch Middle School.
Wall is on a state committee evaluating how testing and assessment programs are used and how they can be improved.
"We think it's a bare bones situation already," Wall said.
