$50 million grant to reward Valley teachers

PHOENIX - Valley students may soon benefit from a $50 million federal grant, providing additional funding for Valley schools in the next several years.

The U.S. Department of Education awarded Maricopa County Education Service Agency a $51.8 million grant on Friday to fund the "Rewarding Excellence in Instruction and Leadership" (REIL) program.

The Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grant will be disbursed over the next five years to local schools districts, including Alhambra Elementary, Gila Bend Unified, Isaac Elementary, Nadaburg Unified, Phoenix Union, and Tolleson Elementary school districts.

The REIL program aims to reward teacher and principal excellence, especially in areas that are hard to staff, said Tracey Benson with the Maricopa County Education Service Agency.

"We recognize how critically important teachers and principals are to student success, and recent legislative changes have laid the foundation for Arizona to be a leader in teacher and principal effectiveness," Maricopa County schools superintendent Don Covey said in a prepared statement.

School officials said the grant will directly benefit the education of the 52,000 students that attend the six valley school districts to engage in the REIL program.