There has been lots of talk since November 6th about moving on to improve education after the defeat of vouchers. People on both sides of that debate have talked about working together towards a common goal. I have been happy with the tone of talk, but I have wondered what is the next concrete step that we can approach to demonstrate our genuine interest in improving education. After reading The People Have Spoken, and Fans and Foes Vow to Work for Change I have had an idea of where to take a next step.
I’ve never heard a credible argument against merit-pay or performance-based pay for teachers. Does this mean that I have not heard enough discussion on the subject or is it evidence that this might be an area where people who want to improve education can agree? I think that an effort to bring performance-based pay for our teachers would make a great demonstration of our commitment to making changes to improve our education system.
The trick with any merit-based pay system is that you have to clearly identify what parts of a job you want to reinforce, and what parts you can let go of. Because, whatever you reward increases, and whatever you don’t reward disappears.
MRKH
I thought of that too. Even if we all agree that merit pay is a good thing there are lots of details to hammer out in any actual legislation on merit pay. If we stick to it long enough to get a better bill than we got on vouchers that would demonstrate our commitment to improve education in Utah.
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