RALEIGH - Wake County will become the first school district in the state to test a program that rewards teachers financially for staying in the classroom.

The Wake school board on Tuesday approved the creation of the Teacher Advancement Program, which will pay educators more money under the new positions of master teachers and mentor teachers. The program will start this summer at Wilburn Elementary School in North Raleigh.

School leaders hope the program can be expanded as a way to lure more teachers, especially at high-poverty schools.

To pay for the program, Wilburn will reallocate money it receives from the federal Title I program, which goes toward high-poverty schools. The money will allow two master teachers to get $9,900 more a year and seven mentor teachers to receive $5,000 more annually.

Other Wake schools have expressed interest in starting the program. But they want to see how it works first at Wilburn.

The Teacher Advancement Program, promoted by the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching, is used in 200 schools across the country. Wake school board members toured a school in South Carolina last month that uses the program.

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