Paying Teachers to Teach is NOT Unreasonable

We've been hearing for a long time from sources like the NEA that our teachers are underpaid. Apparently that is not exactly true--well, for some, not at all true. In fact, The Champion Foundation shows that compared to many other careers, teachers can and do recieve good compensation. The problem lies not in how much they are paid, but really in how they are paid.

When I look at my public school system in the suburbs, I see rising drop out rates and continuing decrease in educational advancements. My parents moved us to the county years ago to escape the failing city schools. Now that my kids are in the county schools, I wonder if I need to move to the country?! I believe the problem lies within the system itself and it was only a matter of time before we would see the problems we now face in our local county schools.

One facet of the system that makes no sense at all is the fact that no matter what a teachers' performance is, they get paid and they are entitled to more pay simply for sticking around--regardless of their impact or failure to impact the students they reach everyday.

The concept of tying a teachers wages to their performance simply makes sense and though the concept works in all other businesses, it's not applied to the business of education. I am not suggesting that we measure only by standardized tests--that system is inherently flawed and is a result of the flawed No Child Left Behind legislation, among other flawed policies and measurements. But to measure the increase in test scores, not just the test scores would be a good starting point.

Teachers Benefit When Students Achieve

In a perfect world, this would be true. The concept of 'Merit Pay' or 'Incentive Pay' for teachers works in an environment where teachers and the teachers unions are recruited to develop an incentive plan that recognizes teachers or groups of teachers who show strong academic advancement in their students. Unfortunately, the "No Child Left Behind" legislation has really only added more layers of bureaucracy on an already defunct system of public education which rewards teachers uniformly, simply for putting time in. There is no way, under the current system, to single out and advance teachers who are highly effective.

In fact, a system that provides no incentive for teachers based on their increase in student performance discourages more highly desirable professionals who seek gainful employment in the free market, according to The American Legislative Exchange Council on Teacher Salary and Merit Pay. They conclude that teachers should be rewarded for the success of their pupils.

The New York Times' "Long Reviled, Merit Pay Gains Among Teachers ", presents the benefits of involving teachers and their unions to create benefits for teachers who really reach their students and help them on their academic journeys. Teachers, that at first were sceptical of merit or incentive pay, are now strong advocates of such a system.

Merit Pay for Missouri Teachers would Help all Teachers, Especially Rural Teachers

Merit pay needs to come to Missouri to get our education program back on track. This is not to say this is the only thing that needs to be done, but it would be a huge advancement. Merit pay would entice better teachers to join the career. It would also help keep the best teachers around.

In rural areas, there are fewer attractions that can lure great teachers here. But we have students here with great potential, ones that just need the right teachers to help them. Some people would love to teach but cannot afford the salary reduction they would face. Merit pay could encourage the best people to enter the field. My community faces the lack of outstanding teachers perhaps more so than big cities and merit pay could help combat that problem.

Hopefully, people will start to realize some teachers are worth more, and some are worth less. Teachers should not be paid based on how long they have been teaching, but should be paid based on how well their students are learning.

I am sure we would see a dramatic increase in distinguished teachers. And this would only lead to more successful students.

Merit Pay is a Building Block

If I take all the money in my bank account and allot $200.00/month to each spending need in my house, then I can rest assured at the end of the month that my bills will be paid... $200.00/month for gas, $200.00/month for phone, $200.00/month for car payment, $200.00/month for mortgage, $200.00/month for food for my family of 4.... Wait a minute! I need to spend closer to $500.00/month on food, and my family will be on the street if I can't come up with more than $200.00/month for my mortgage! I sure wish I could follow public educations' one-payment plan for all my bills!

That would be nice indeed! Same pay for all my bills, just like we make the same payment to all of our teachers regardless of their skill and ability. Just like my family living on the street when I can't make the mortgage, our children's futures are at risk since we won't pay for math and science teachers at the markets competitive rates. Myron Lieberman, in a weekly column for the Education Policy Institute, addresses the complexity of the concept of 'merit pay' for teachers. Paying them their worth is complex indeed.

One major issue is that teachers are given a rigid pay schedule, without differentiating what each teacher brings to the classroom. This principle of pay-scale, supported by teachers unions and the NEA does not allow for higher salaries for higher valued educational backgrounds. This is why we experience a shortage of math and science teachers--they can get better money elsewhere, so why teach?

Mr. Lieberman says, "In short, merit pay is extremely divisive within the union, and a union must avoid internal controversy as much as possible. However, from a public relations standpoint, the union cannot say that it opposes merit pay because it would be bad for the union." Mr. Lieberman's position is that in an competitive environment (ie: a 'school choice' environment, where parents have multiple options to educate their child), merit pay would indeed work. But, given the status-quo grip of the educrats and unions who enjoy their monopoly on public education, we are not likely to see true competition. Here's an excerpt from his column:

"A competitive education industry would generate adequate incentives, but it may or may not materialize in the near future. In the meantime, educational reformers would be well advised to focus on differentials by subjects and grade levels. To be sure, the teacher unions will oppose proposals to this effect, but the case for it, and the simplicity of the solutions, render such differentials much easier to adopt whether or not the teacher unions accept it. At the present time, the unions cite the shortage of mathematics and science teachers to demonstrate the need to raise all teacher salaries; obviously, no university could operate effectively, if at all, by insisting that professors of medicine, dentistry, law, physics, and computer science be paid the same as professors of English, history, and speech. Nevertheless, virtually all public school districts have adopted single salary schedules in which the absence of differentials by subject is a much more serious problem than the absence of merit pay. In order to raise the salaries of mathematics and science teachers, school boards must raise the salaries of all teachers. This outcome results in overpaying some teachers and underpaying or going without teachers in the fields of scarcity.

"What is needed is a system that generates continuous incentives to improve. Paradoxically, this will be easier to achieve than meaningful merit pay in a system with disincentives to improvement."

'Merit Pay' is not a stand-alone solution to improve public education. It is one very important building block in the foundation of school reform that will benefit from parental choice and empowerment of administration with a focus on our children's and communities' futures.

Merit Pay for MO Teachers from a Small Town Perspective

Teachers get paid a decent amount. Some districts want to pay all teachers more, while some cannot afford this, others can. Teachers get increases in salaries based on credentials earned, tenure status, and years worked. This cannot determine what makes a good teacher. Teachers should be paid only on how well they teach. Two major teacher organizations agree that merit pay for teachers would be a good idea, although they do have their own stipulations.

Where my children go to school, there are many great teachers. There are also some teachers that do not inspire my children to learn. Teaching, in my eyes, is an art. Some are cut out for it while others are not. Small towns usually do not offer many incentives to potential teachers. Therefore, it is especially important for the teachers who do well here to be compensated accordingly. There are many attractive things that can make them locate to bigger cities for higher paying non-teaching careers. Merit pay would help keep the great teachers here and keep great teachers at every school. Most other careers base their pay on performance. Why shouldn’t the teaching career? Education is the most important part of a child’s future. The great teachers should be rewarded!

Merit Pay for Teachers in Rural Areas

In our small community, we have a small number of teachers. I have seen many teachers come and go, with the select few that grew up here and will stay indefinitely. Recruiting teachers to this town has presented challenges to us. Keeping teachers is even more difficult. Once they are here, they find a paying job in the close by city. It is unfortunate we are losing the some of the best teachers we have.

Merit pay is an idea that may overcome some of these issues. It would attract better teachers to the career; keep the best teachers around, while the worst ones leave the field. It would also encourage current teachers to improve themselves.

This issue is of great concern, even having a place in the presidential race. Hillary Clinton recently stated that merit pay is a bad idea because it would be unclear who would pay the bonuses, while her opponent, Obama feels merit pay is definitely the way to go.

Currently, there are about 19 states that practice incentive based pay plans for teachers and Missouri needs to join them. Our teachers may need more incentive to increase performance. It is a very difficult, yet rewarding job, but incentive could only make them better. Our town desperately needs this to keep our great teachers around. Big cities have more things to offer than we do, so we need some enticement to keep them here.

Performance Pay

Our schools are hurting. Our children will be affected forever. Our lives will be affected by this in one way or another. One idea floating around is to create more incentives to attract better teachers. The teachers are the ones that shape and mold our children—don’t you want the best? Performance pay can help in this area. Granted, some teachers do not care much about money, but it never hurts. Additionally, it can attract even better people to the field. It can also weed out the teachers that are not doing a good job. It will help keep the best teachers around! High turnover rates in the schools are bad news, especially when the ones leaving are the best teachers. If we offer them incentives to stick around, maybe our children can get the best education that they deserve.