Knowledge Nugget: What is Merit Pay for Teachers and Why Has It Caused Such an Uproar?
Ah, yes. This is the big question on everyone’s mind right now. President Obama has stated his support for merit pay for teachers and the reaction in the teaching profession is as though he has called for their public thrashing. First, the basics. There are many different types of merit pay proposals out there, but the issue is not “Should we have a merit pay system for teachers?” but rather “What kind of merit pay system for teachers should we have?” Most merit pay systems propose to give teachers a bonus if they improve student achievement in their class. This is on top of a teacher’s salary. No teacher will lose money if their students do not do well on the test (although that is a thought….). The argument gets fuzzy, and is purposely mischaracterized by many, when it comes to deciding how to measure student achievement. Do we A) measure how many students a teacher moves into the “proficient” (or “advanced”) category in one year (no matter where the students start the year) or do
