Testing the Teacher

There's this issue going around our schools as of late, no it's not test scores, it's not funding, and no it's not teachers with inappropriate relations with their students. This is an issue of payment. The Teacher's Unions have started to sway towards favoring a Merit pay system. A system that rewards Teachers who's classes do well. This issue has only been pushed further with President Obama urging that this system of payment be accepted widely. This of course has sparked a debate, is this a good or bad thing?

When I first heard about this issue, it seemed to me what was being proposed was a Teacher would be paid based on their performance, I.E. their student's grades. This to me seemed a bit... Questionable. What seems to be the actual case is more a reward for teachers that excel, as opposed to punishing those who don't. A bonus for teachers who's students preform well. This seems at first like a great idea. Though it does raise some questions that must be asked.

What definition are we using for excellent performance? Does that mean a certain grade average per class, or per student? Or would it be per assignment, and tests scores as well? The definition of good becomes varied depending on the criteria it is based upon. There is of course the factor of the students themselves, some students will refuse to learn, I remember kids when I was in school who would rather have dental surgery than pay attention in class. What is going to happen to a student like this when a teacher is now getting paid per grade? How can we be sure this system will be introduced fairly, that teacher's won't lower their standards or simply cheat their student's grades to make sure they receive these bonuses?

All these questions come to mind, all these questions are yet unanswered.

But lets think about this... Let's just assume this is implemented in a fair and balanced way, what will this do? Well, it will improve our school systems for one. As teachers continue to strive for the better pay, the student's will be pushed into maintaining higher grades. A new influx of talented teachers will emerge, the ones who can continually gain this extra incentive will survive, while teachers who lack care or motivation for their job will be forced to find better suited employment. This also takes care of our teachers who have been universally under paid for years now, giving them the influx in money they desperately need to keep our current teaching staff employed, as well as give new teachers proper motivation to become teachers at all.

This entire idea is rough, undefined, and jagged around the edges. But you know what? I'm for it if they can polish it down to something that works. This system, if implemented correctly, will simultaneously aide both our educational system, and those working for that system. I can only hope, that if and when this discussion becomes a reality, the kinks and bumps will have been grooved out.

Just makes me wonder why we don't have this kind of system for our Doctors.