The merit pay discussion takes on a weird twist:
A San Joaquin Valley teacher hopes money will motivate California students to improve their standardized test scores.Jo Aldrich-Fallert of Porterville will soon start gathering signatures for an initiative that would give $1,000 to parents of children who score at the proficient level or higher on all sections of the California Standards Test. She says she wants to reward families who have made education a priority in their homes.
If the idea proves to be a successful motivator, the state could end up paying out more than $1 billion to families of students who do well on the test.
Critics of the idea say doing well in school should be its own reward. They also worry about the cost at a time when the state is strapped for money.
Seeing as how money doesn't grow on trees, I agree with the critics here. I hope this idea gets more publicity, though, just for the amusing debates it will generate. If we're willing to pay parents, but not teachers, more money for higher test scores, aren't we admitting that parents have more to do with a student's academic achievement than the teachers? Isn't that support for homeschooling? And what about the fabulous, motivated parents whose children get stuck with turkeys for teachers? They'll miss out on the dough because a hapless educator undid all the hard work of tutoring and motivation that was done at home. If this amount of money was on the line, wouldn't parents be even more observant - and critical - of bad teaching and bad schools?
Like I say, amusing.
Posted by kswygert at July 26, 2005 06:42 PM