Merit-Based Pay, Liars, Cop-outs and Incompetence

The article above from the Associated Press regarding teachers unions that are starting to embrace merit-based pay reminded me that I had a few thoughts on the subject.

Let me tell you about the system that I am a part of though. I teach ninth grade English. I get the same bonus as the twelfth grade English teacher who refuses to teach anything all day long. His students have already passed the test on which the bonus in our state is based. Our administration continues to "reward" him with a six classes of twelfth-grade students because they know that he won't DO anything. Apparently, these students are less important and their educations more expendable because they have already passed the state test upon which our administration is judged.

Oh ... it is so frustrating! If a merit-based pay program is going to be put into effect and really, really work, then the people need to stop being politically correct and actually just be correct in their implementation of the program. Why did that man get the same bonus as I on Friday? Explain that to me. Did he stay after school five days a week? No. I could see him from my window leaving when the bell rang. Did he teach any of his curriculum? No. My former students who had him last year complained that they didn't do anything and expressed concern about their first year of English at the college level.

Why, if our administration know that this man doesn't do anything, are they forced to retain him in his position? That goes back to the John Stossel report. This guy is just one sad example of many in my experience and I teach at a high school that is ranked within the top 150 high schools in the United States. Sad, sad, sad.

I became National Board Certified as soon as I was eligible because that was a bonus in which I felt I could believe, that was an accolade about which I could be proud, that was an achievement for which I was willing to work. Then ... I started learning about teachers who repeatedly falsified documentation so that they could pass the "documented accomplishments" portion of their portfolio entries. One national board teacher would actually write fake letters from parents in praise of a fellow national board candidate. Both passed. Both continue to collect bonus money for fake achievements. Both mentor upcoming candidates and get money for that as well. Sad, sad, sad. Yet, there are teachers out there like me who actually had accomplishments, who actually received letters from parents and students, who actually taught at conventions, who actually did things to help further the causes of education ... it is so frustrating.

I had a friend who became an administrator. When this friend did not pass her boards, this friend walked around telling everyone that the a certain percentage of people have to fail in order for the program to make money on retakes. Really? Now, this person is an administrator. How much respect do you think this person really has, then, for the teachers under her authority who are working hard to achieve these kinds of above-and-beyond certifications? Not much. This person, no longer a friend, is a stellar administrator in the county. This person is, in fact, just the kind of administrator they look for. What does that tell you?

The Angel and The Devil

It is so aggravating to be a teacher who does what he or she is actually supposed to do because the constant inferiority of the teachers who do the bare minimum or worse day in and day out is always in your face. I like to picture the angel and the devil on my shoulders. The angel is the rare student who appreciates your efforts in the moment (Many, many students appreciate your efforts as a teacher, but they often never realize this until they are adults with children themselves.), and the devil is a P.E. teacher.

Okay, P.E. teachers, take a time out. That was just an example. But, all teaching jobs are not created equally. I get paid the same amount of money as a P.E. teacher. I teach English. I grade papers constantly, and my students must be proficient readers and writers to succeed academically in future grades and as members of this society. I'm not saying the physical education isn't valuable, but I am asking which is more valuable? Shouldn't we be paid like most people are paid: based on the value of the service we are providing?

Back to the angel and the devil for a moment. There is a P.E. teacher at the high school where I teach who has a reputation of being a "witch" because she assigns reading and homework related to physical education and health, etc. Obviously, she is on the angel side of my pathetic metaphor. There are also several English teachers who are on the devil side. There is one friend of mine who has a planning period during the last hour of the school day. She leaves school early every single day, and she has been known to reschedule parent conferences so that she can continue to leave early. God forbid a meeting with parents interfere with what big plans she has made for herself at 1:45 in the afternoon on a work day.

I was reading about a school chancellor in Washington D.C. named Michelle Rhee in The Atlantic Magazine (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/michelle-rhee) who wants that school district to go to merit pay. Of course that pay would be based solely on data. I approve of merit pay as long as there are multiple measurement tools in addition to data. For example, my friend who leaves work early every single day should not maintain her current level of pay regardless of the data she provides for the school. There has to be some utilization of data because any reasonable educator can recognize the need for data measurement, but there also have to be other performance-related measures.

Bottomline: we have to stop wasting our students' resources on the devils out there. We have to pay teachers equal to the value they are providing in the school and for the students. We have to make the job of teaching respected. The best way to do that is to get rid of the losers.