If you wanna get rid of good teachers, this is a way to do it
on January 13th, 2006 at 10:01 amFirst, the news…
Teacher pay tied to test scores in Houston schools
HOUSTON (AP)  Houston became the largest school district in the country on Thursday to adopt a merit pay plan for teachers that focuses on students’ tests scores.
By a 9-0 vote, the Houston school board approved a plan that offers teachers up to $3,000 in extra pay if their students show improvement on state and national tests. The program could be expanded to provide up to $10,000 in merit pay for teachers.
The vote came after several teachers told the board during its monthly meeting they believed the plan was flawed and unfair because some teachers will be eligible for larger bonuses than others.
“This is not a perfect plan but it is a beginning,” said school board president Diana Davila.
Other school districts around the country have implemented various types of incentive pay programs for teachers in recent years. Denver adopted one in November, becoming at the time the largest school district to do so. Houston, with more than 200,000 students, is the nation’s seventh-largest school district. (more…)
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Tying the success rate of students to a bonus is not a very good idea in my estimation. Some of the main contributors to children that fail are beyond the sphere of responsibility of the teacher. Don’t get me wrong, teachers do need to be held accountable, but going this route adds too much unnecessary pressure on teacher that rely heavily on parental involvement.
Think about it. There are plenty of scenarios out there where some children do extremely well and some don’t—all in the same classroom. Is that the fault of the teacher?
Houston should pay more attention at the common trends with their failing students. Starting with questions like “do parents show up to parent/teacher conferences?”, or “Who helps them with their homework when they are home?” are good places to start.
