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Merit Pay Must Be Part of Public Education Reform
An excerpt from an article today in the Baltimore Examiner
Hooray for Carroll County. The School Board wants state legislators to study the benefits of merit pay in the upcoming session starting this month.
They should study quickly and move the state system forward with a program that rewards performance in a way the private sector does and not in a way that treats the poor and mediocre performers the same way as the stellar teachers.
We are not alone in advocating merit pay. The September 2005 Governor’s Commission on Quality in Education report made creating a “new compensation system for teachers and principals” its No. 1 recommendation. A new system should “pay teachers according to their subject expertise, their demonstrated effectiveness, and the challenges of staffing particular schools,” the report said.
Read the full article at http://www.examiner.com/a-487252~Editorial__Merit_pay_must_be_part_of_public_education_reform.html
1 comment:
IMHO - People who object to and are afraid of merit pay situations are usually people who are mediocre at their jobs.
Just because a teacher has tenure doesn't mean they have to make more money than a dynamic educator who blazes a trail of educational excellence - some people are talented and gifted and some simply work harder than others. Simply because a mediocre teacher sludges through years of text book regurge doesn't mean their pay should be higher or better than somebody newer and BETTER at their job and more passionate about it.
Why do we cling to some of these antiquated notions?
I'm sure there are legit concerns, and I hope somebody who has the opposite opinion chimes in.
I think that merit pay and bonuses for outstanding teachers is common sense and anything else is ripping off the excellent teachers and their students who benefit from them and it breeds mediocrity.
I also think that excellent teachers should have a long waiting list of student teachers and aides to mentor. We don't want the mediocre leading the way to future educators.
Excellent, passionate, talented, caring teachers deserve merit pay.
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