In a make-my-day moment on the Senate floor today,  Assistant Senate GOP leader Nancy Spence fired back at a House committee that had killed her groundbreaking performance-pay plan for teachers. Spence, a veteran voice for education reform, restarted her bill by amending it in its entirety into the annual School Finance Act.

Earlier this morning, the Democrat-run House Appropriations Committee had voted mostly along party lines to kill Spence's Senate Bill 65 despite bipartisan backing for the novel proposal and support from Gov. Bill Ritter.

"I was astounded that the House committee would kill the bill, considering the broad support behind the proposal," Spence said after the Senate adjourned. "You would think we all could agree that we have to find ways to hold onto our best and brightest teachers."

The Spence plan, also sponsored by Democrat Sen. Sue Windels, would set up a $2 million fund to help jump-start efforts by school districts to cultivate and retain teachers based on their performance. The effort was announced last fall as part of the Republican legislative agenda for 2008.

The administration of Gov. Bill Ritter, himself a supporter of teacher performance pay, subsequently embraced Spence's effort and offered to collaborate on her bill and help find majority Democrat co-sponsors--some of whom had opposed and killed a performance-incentive bill Spence carried last year.