Mar 24 2009
Merit Pay for Teachers?
In a recent speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that must have made teacher’s unions all over the country momentarily stop breathing, President Obama actually proposed merit pay for teachers who are effective and hinted at a more expedient way to remove ineffective teachers from the profession. As should be expected the president of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, among others, opposed merit pay in lieu of increasing teacher salaries based on more education and board certifications and nothing tied to improved test scores. As if any certifications make weak teachers better. Why would we want to base teacher pay on the same values other professions have: performance. The common sense of merit pay and accountability escapes the educational community by and large because it places responsibility squarely where it belongs, on the people who deliver the educational curriculum of a district. More money by itself does not make a teacher better, otherwise students in the poorest districts would never graduate successfully from college and many do. Teaching ability, commitment, and high expectations serve to make both teachers and students better. So, thank you Mr. Obama for finally saying something that I can heartily agree with but given how you are now waffling on your first reactions on the remarkable bonuses paid by TARP recipients, I expect to see the same when the various teachers’ unions cry foul and they will LOUDLY. Given all the monies they spent electing you, VERY LOUDLY. Please don’t because this system needs to rapidly change. The irony of the MTEA’s president’s remarks is that in most districts, teachers’ education costs are also paid by districts, actually by the taxpayers, but don’t ask you to be accountable, actually to improve learning. The nerve!
