Why are teachers against Merit Pay?
I work in a school with merit pay, and I was a supporter, but now against it in a limited way. First, many of the arguments against it is wrong. You can have a merit pay system that supports teachers in low performing schools just as with high performing. In fact in my school system, its easier for low performing classes to get bigger bonuses because the rate of improvement can be a lot more. So what’s the problem? I distrust banks because I understand their ultimate goal is for to take my money… not to help me save more. In schools, traditionally its safe to assume they’re there for the students and for what’s best for them. But when you start adding money into it (sometimes 10-20 thousand extra a year), the focus is naturally going to shift for what’s best for the students to what’s best to get the merit pay. For example, once my school started merit pay, the arts programs were cut in half. Most students, instead of taking music and art, were scheduled for a secondary math and read
