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September 1, 2009

THE PEOPLE SPEAK: Teacher merit pay sounds like bad idea

Every time school starts, a “miracle drug” is introduced to save our students.

This year it’s called performance-based pay for teachers. That’s a fancy title for an old wooly booger, merit pay.

It’s being promoted by a bunch of nerds, President Obama, computer whiz and wife Bill and Melinda Gates, the Tulsa School Board, Tulsa school Superintendent Keith Ballard and the leadership of the Tulsa teachers union.

It ties teacher pay to test scores on basic skills. But here’s what makes it dangerous:

Test scores don’t always yield fair teacher evaluations. Paying for test scores leads to teaching only to the tests. Merit pay pits teacher against teacher for higher pay. Merit pay puts no value on advanced degrees or years on the job.

Asked by a reporter how his class on economics went, former Sen. Paul Douglas said, “You never know for 20 years.” He meant late-bloomers.

Blackballing teachers who don’t get merit pay destroys faculty teamwork. Some smarty pants don’t do well on tests. This is George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind in a new suit.

Virginia Blue Jeans Jenner

Wagoner

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