In California, Does Merit Pay for Teachers Have Any Merit?

"I've never let my school interfere with my education." -- Mark Twain

Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each. -- Plato

The other day, I was playing with some of my favorite quotes on education in view of today's values:

The secret in education lies in preparing students to pass state tests.

I've never let my school interfere with preparing for state tests.

Do not train a child to learn by discovering with accuracy the peculiar bent of genius of each. Rather teach them to pass state tests.

A.J. Duffy, the president of United Teachers of Los Angeles, wrote on Aug. 14: "...you've probably heard about U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's plan to give school districts extra funding if they agree to linking teacher pay to test scores. He calls it 'Race to the Top.' I call it 'Race to the bottom.'"

But one may say, Mr. Duncan is right. Link teacher pay to test scores and you will motivate the teacher to teach harder so that test scores will be raised. Ah, if only one COULD solve the problem by throwing money at it! If it were only that simple!

I taught in Los Angeles City's inner city elementary schools for over twenty years before I retired in 2003. Before that I taught for about 10 years in the Los Angeles City School's Children Centers teaching and caring for preschoolers and young children. Therefore, I feel I have some experience behind me when I say I think Mr. Duffy is correct in his point of view.

Right above Mr. Duffy's article, (Duffy Speaks Out: Race to the Top?) is a Letter to the Editor, titled: Test scores not a valid measure of teacher effectiveness. In the letter a veteran of 14 years states that she worked with students who "Languished at the bottom of the socioeconomic barrel." She became a "master teacher...implementing state-of-the art educational practices..." Yet the standard test scores remained...low despite some gains.

She transferred to another school were family incomes were higher and students lived in a clean safe neighborhood. Her students' average test scores "were nearly triple those of the students at the other school. She continues, "Obviously, I had become three times as good a teacher - overnight." (UTLA, United Teacher, Letters to the Editor, Page 3)

Mr. Duffy goes on to voice his concern that if we focus even more on test scores, students most in need of support will continue to get "more test prep," instead of challenging, engaging instruction. Education will continue to be geared toward test scores - not education. Furthermore, Mr. Duffy states, "Bottom line, there are no studies to conclusively prove that merit pay improves student outcomes."

Mr. Duffy says some members are against strict merit pay but would consider an incentive that goes to the whole school like the system we had for a brief time under former Gov. Gray Davis. Such systems encourage collaboration and experimentation among teachers.

Finally, Mr Duffy puts forth his counter-proposal to Mr. Arne Duncan, "to use the $5 billion set aside for Race to the Top to support true solutions to improving schools, like reducing class size, raising per-pupil spending, making schools safer, and improving teacher salaries."

I must agree wholeheartedly, speaking from my long years with Los Angeles Unified School District, these are the things that really helped.