Friday, July 06, 2007

Teachers and Merit Pay, Part II

A reader has the nerve to disagree with me about my take on the lame reasoning for opposition to teacher merit pay based on student test scores.

Good! We need to juice things up around here.

He writes:

So merit pay proposals? When the president's salary is based on how well his underlings do their jobs, and it's this way all the way down, then we'll talk.


That's a non-sequitur. Just because the Pres. acts like he's accountable to no one we are okay with no accountability everywhere else?

He makes a good point:

I can sit here and argue the ineffectiveness of standardized testing, and talk about how students can be extremely smart and be fully engaged in a classroom setting and do badly on exams. Or I can argue that students may have learned a lot because of a great teacher but chose to blow off the testing because it's uncool. Or I can argue that it doesn't make much sense to punish the teacher who can be the best in the school because her students don't care to prove it.


No test is perfect, granted. But if a teacher can't inspire his or her students -- at least enough of them -- to want to do well academically, which means passing tests -- then, well...


I'm sorry, but if a teacher has made such a big impact on a student's life for him to tell her, "You're such a good teacher," then she's done her salary worth. How often do teachers hear this from the general public?


I agree. To a point. But we're not talking about a teacher's base salary. We're talking about giving bonuses for teachers who get their students to do well on tests. Think about that for a minute...the level of achievement in US education has sunk so low that we think it's worthy of a bonus if a teacher's students do well on tests.

I would certainly not want *my* salary to be based on the performances of others. Teachers have regular reviews done by superiors, are mandated to continue their education, have state and federal regulations and guidelines to follow, and they have parents of their students to contend with.


And they have tenure. Look -- my sister teaches elementary kids. I know it's a tough job from listening to her bitch. And I don't think her complaints -- especially about parents -- are illegitimate. We should give even more support to the teachers who excel and get their students to succeed, despite indifferent or non-supportive parents, bureaucracy, lousy facilities and resources. That's what this merit pay proposal is about, isn't it?

Teachers do not get a free-pass in their profession, and they certainly take more of a beating than they deserve.


Again, I'm not saying punish teacher. I'm saying reward those that overcome all the obstacles you legitimately raise as an issue and who still manage to get their students to perform.

4 comments:

Cardinal said...

I was emphasizing with the presidential example that you cannot determine how deserving of a raise an individual is by the job of his underlings. No other occupation is treated like that.

"But if a teacher can't inspire his or her students... to do well academically..."

Then what? Is that really part of the job description? I'm not thinking so. A teacher is there to teach -- hence the name -- and everything else is icing on the cake. An inspiring teacher who makes her kids want to do better is an excellent teacher, but it's not the only qualifier.

I'd imagine Albert Einstein had to give major props to and learned a great deal from his teachers, all the while getting failing or near-failing grades in school. Should've his teachers been punished for having a failing student?

"the level of achievement in US education has sunk so low..."

Is it really only the teachers' fault?

In the June 18 issue of Time magazine, a woman writes to the editor:

"As a public school teacher and mother of a Marine, I read with equal interest about N[o] C[hild] L[eft] B[ehind] and 'One Day in Iraq.' It is ironic that I will lose my job if I fail to meet President George W. Bush's NCLB benchmarks for progress in my class, yet his Administration squanders our tax dollars and children's lives and tells us we have no right to expect accountability and progress with its protracted war in Iraq."

No other profession is held accountable for the failings of others. Some children just don't want to learn and no amount of money withheld from a teacher is going to change that.

Scott said...

I disagree with your premise that in no other profession is someone's performance judged by the performance of their subordinates. Au contraire. As someone who has worked several jobs where I supervised others, I was held accountable for the performance of people who reported to me. I'm holding my general contractor accountable for the mistakes of his sub-contractors. Even Capt. Kirk, who saved the universe multiple times, was held accountable for the actions of his crew and sent to the dilithium mines of Rura Pente.

And the students are employees of teachers, they are, well, students. And if working to inspire students to learn and grow and gain command of knowledge is not in a teacher's job description, then, well, what is a teacher?

I know parents are a big part of the equation...but I don't know how to hold them accountable. Any moron who can put a penis and vagina together can make a baby, but it takes commitment and talent to be a good parent.

As a manager, I have been in discussions with senior management at the end of the year to determine bonuses for employees. We didn't give large bonuses to employees who did their jobs well. That's what salary is for. You get paid for doing your job. The bonuses went to those who went above and beyond.

I think merit bonuses -- not raises, as you claim -- should go to teachers who, well, teach. Who inspire their charges to learn. Who do what they are paid for by taxpayers.

Cardinal said...

Only problem with your take on the employee/employer model is that teachers cannot fire students who don't produce results. In fact, students are compelled by law to attend school and take these tests.

You don't know how to hold parents accountable. Neither do I. Nobody does. But making teachers the scapegoats of your frustrations because you don't know how to punish parents for being bad parents isn't the answer either. Teachers are actually trying.

Scott said...

How is rewarding teachers who excel by giving them bonuses when their students do well making them scapegoats?