Florida's National Board certified teachers will get their mentoring bonus for the work they've already done this year, House Schools and Learning Council chairman Joe Pickens (left) explained on the floor this afternoon during a lengthy education budget review.

They won't get the money - close to $5,000 - for next year or any other year while the state lacks the funding, Pickens said. "Next year, we are eliminating that program."

Also gone will be the state's support for teachers to apply to the certification program, again because of a dearth of resources. The primary goal of the Excellent Teaching initiative is to give a 10 percent bonus to teachers who earn the certification, Pickens said, and that's what the budget makers sought to preserve.

"The core of the Excellent Teaching bonus was the 10 percent bonus," Pickens said. "We kept the core."