Schooltastic

DISCLAIMER:

I don’t know whom I’m going to vote for in the 2012 presidential election.  I’m not going to write about politics, just policies.  I certainly don’t want to endorse or condemn any candidates here.  After reading the education plank in each candidate’s platform, from his or her own printed materials, I’m just going to explain how it all sounds to me as a teacher.  I’m organizing this by proposal, not by politician, since I’m more interested in policy than personalities. 

There’s a lot of ground to cover, so I’ll write one of these per week.  I realize that candidates will continue to drop out as the weeks go on, but their ideas are still worth commenting on, as they may represent legislative or popular trends.

Merit Pay

Many candidates in both large parties mention this one.  It’s always in the context of incentives, a strategy to lure bright young people to the profession or keep talented professionals working in struggling school districts.  Regarding the former, I don’t know anyone who got into teaching for the money.  As far as the latter goes, I do know many teachers who have switched districts to work in schools with nicer facilities, better community support, or other things that make our job more pleasant. 

If offering a cash bonus to great teachers helps keep them working in underachieving districts, I think it’s a great idea.  Most people can remember a certain teacher who really helped inspire and motivate them.  If we can increase the probability that a student in inner-city Detroit might have more teachers like that, then let’s do it. 

Of course, there is a punitive side of merit pay.  If you think that bad teachers should be paid less, how would you identify them?  Student performance on standardized assessments is becoming a bigger part of teacher evaluation.  However, while quality of teaching has an effect on test scores, so does student population, parent support, and other factors which are out of the control of teachers.  It seems unfair that I should get a bigger check than a colleague who happens to have more students with special needs than I do.

I don’t suppose quantifiably identifying great teachers would be any easier.  Great test scores don’t directly correspond with great teaching.  In fact, there’s a practice known as “teaching to the test” that is generally frowned on in pedagogical circles.  However, it would bother me a lot less if one of my colleagues got an undeserved bonus than it would if he or she got unfairly docked pay. 

Lurking behind merit pay policies is the notion that poor teaching is a big part of what’s wrong with American schools.  I have taught for 14 years between two separate schools, and I have never worked with a teacher who wasn’t seriously invested in the educational growth of his or her students, or who didn’t work hard to make every student a success.  Whatever factors are causing the US to compare unfavorably with student achievement in other countries, I seriously doubt it’s our teaching professionals. 

More policy next Friday!