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Show •STAMPEDE From page 2 AP Photo/David J.Phillip TEACHER KIM HEMMIS READS a book to her first grade class at Will Rogers Elementary School in Houston. Student performance could soon be the main factor that decides which teachers make the most money in the Houston school district. Teacher pay tied to test scores in Houston schools "This is not a perfect plan but it is a beginning," said school board president Diana Davila. Other school districts around the country have implemented various types of incentive pay programs for teachers in recent years. Denver adopted one in November, becoming at the time the largest school district to do so. Houston, with more than 200,000 students, is the nation's seventh-largest school district. The plan is divided into three sections, with as much as $1,000 in bonus pay in each. The first will award bonuses to all teachers in schools rated acceptable or higher, based on scores on the state's main standard- HOUSTON (AP) Houston became the largest school district in the country on Thursday to adopt a merit pay plan for teachers that focuses on students' tests scores. By a 9-0 vote, the Houston school board approved a plan that offers teachers up to $3,000 in extra pay if their students show improvement on state and national tests. The program could be expanded to provide up to $10,000 in merit pay for teachers. The vote came after several teachers told the board during "its monthly meeting they believed the plan was flawed and unfair because some teachers will be eligible for larger bonuses than others. ized test. The second ties pay to student improvement on a standardized test that compares performance to nationwide norms. In the third section, reading and math teachers whose students fare well compared with others in the district would be eligible for bonuses. The teachers' union doesn't approve of the plan, saying it focuses too much on test scores and is too complicated. In general, teachers across the country have been paid based on their years of experience and education levels. Starting teachers in Houston make about $36,000 a year. The average salary in the district is about $45,000. $9 will buy you a music CD from the bargain bin..., ual in particular is a nightMany pilgrims expressed frustration over the repeated marish problem in crowd dynamics. disasters at al-Jamarat. Hundreds of thousands "This should not hapof pilgrims must move up pen every year. It should be stopped, it's a scandal. There the ramps onto the platform, maneuver from pillar to pilmust be a way to organize Jar and hit each with seven this better," said Anwar stones, then exit. Sadiqi, a pilgrim from Pakistan. Many of the pilgrims are in a rush because of the time Ensuring a smooth pilconstraints on the ritual grimage is a key concern for and their anxiety about past Saudi Arabia's royal family, which bolsters its legitimacy stampedes. by touting its role as the Traditionally, stoning was "custodian of the holy cities" carried out from midday to of Mecca and Medina, where sunset. Islam's 7th century prophet Shiite Muslim clerics Muhammad was born and have issued edicts allowing lived. pilgrims to do the stoning in the morning, and some Crown Prince Sultan Bin Sunni clerics have followed Abdel Aziz told reporters the kingdom had "spared no suit in an attempt to space out the crowds. But some effort" to avoid such disasters but, he added, "it cannot clerics following Saudi Arabia's strict Wahhabi stop what God has preorinterpretation of Islam urge dained. It is impossible." the faithful to stick to the "We feel pain and sorrow midday start. for them and for their families and we send our condoAbout 60,000 Saudi lences," the prince said on police and soldiers patrolled Al-Ekhbariya television. the Mina plain once the The hajj is a complex bal- stoning ritual began Tbesday to direct pilgrims. ance of safety with Islam's Helicopters flew overhead, requirements that every and authorities monitored able-bodied Muslim should the pilgrims from a control perform the pilgrimage at room through closed-circuit least once. Saudi Arabia TV. sets a quota of participants, allowing every nation to But some people comsend 1,000 pilgrims for every plained that police did little 1 million in population. to help. The three-day stoning rit"They look indifferent. They don't carry out their : duties seriously," Iftikhar I Hussein, an Iraqi pilgrim, | said. "This looks like a garage rather than a holy ! site." ! "If hajj is a duty for every able-bodied Muslim, it should be a duty for the government" to ensure it is safe, she added. Signs giving directions are few, and pilgrims often ignore regulations. Peddlers selling food and souvenirs also impede the pilgrims. Saudi Arabia has announced plans for further changes to the site in coming years that it says will allow 500,000 pilgrims an hour to carry out the stoning. Among the changes, the platform is to be expanded to four levels, with 12 entrances and 12 exits. Also, there are plans to bus pilgrims to al-Jamarat from a nearby tent city in the desert rather than allow them to make their own way to the site. Thursday evening, the highway from Mina to Mecca was packed with buses, trucks and cars carry-: ing pilgrims to the holy city • for Friday's final rite of the hajj: the "farewell tawwaf - a walk around the Kaaba, ; the black stone cube that all Muslims face when they perform daily prayers. Police make an arrest in fatal attack of NY Times reporter WASHINGTON (AP) crime be off the streets so a maintenance engineer, - Police made an arrest they don't kill someone else," Morris said. Thursday in the fatal attack said Rosenbaum's brother, He said the videos are of New York Times reporter Marcus. clear enough to show the David Rosenbaum, who was man's face. The stolen card was used beaten and robbed while at least twice Friday night The videos came from ' walking near his home. - in one instance, minutes a CVS store in southeast ; after the attack. The arrest came hours Washington, where the card 1 '"ThVmAn shown 'in 'the ^ ;•;; Was used Friday* night, and*1! after ihvestigato^s r'eleas'ed surveillance^videos, showing r vldeosls a perison^ofjinterest'* an Advance Auto Parts store! "in the "ca^e and is not neces- ""ln'Riverdale, Md., where ' ' *' a'man who may1 have used sarily a suspect, said Capt. a credit card stolen from the card was declined on C.V. Morris, the lead investi- Saturday night. The card ; I Rosenbaum. was used several other plac- ' Police did not immediate- gator in the homicide case. es; police declined to identily release additional details. "He may have been using Rosenbaum, 63, died the credit card not knowing fy them. After leaving home Sunday night, two days after it was a stolen card," Morris for a walk Friday night, Rosenbaum was found on he was found on a sidewalk said. the sidewalk with a personal near his home in one of the The man seen in the stereo headset nearby, indi-- , city's most affluent neighvideo is wearing some type eating he may have been borhoods. of service uniform, which struck from behind without investigators believe may "It is very important that warning, police said. ! be that of a mechanic or whoever committed this OR... a full month of XMission Internet Service including: free web accelerator, 24/7 technical support, x2 & v.90 56k fast local modem connection, pop-up blocker... not to mention a ton of music-related web sites. 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