By Mark
My email inbox this last week has been peppered by NBPTS SmartBrief articles with distinctly contradictory messages. First, there was the report from Tennessee that a three-year longitudinal study on merit-pay in Nashville revealed that merit pay had no impact on student learning. Then, quick to follow, was a rebuttal from an administrator in Texas arguing that merit-pay does impact student performance. And, lo and behold, Friday, I read that the feds ponied up $422 million for use in teacher merit-pay initiatives. Merit pay is certainly a "pretty" idea and a publicly palatable solution, so no wonder we're throwing millions on the bandwagon.
Personally, ten years into this business, I don't want more money for the work I do. More pay won't give me what I really need to be a better teacher. I'm dealing with finite resources here, and despite what Oprah might want America to believe about all educators, I'm not a "lazy teacher" who leaves promptly at 3:00pm to munch bon-bons during a leisurely afternoon and who has nothing better to do than complain about not being paid enough (Oprah, why all the hate?). More pay won't motivate me to work harder…since that implies that I'm not working hard enough as it is. Tempting me with more pay simply won't make me better at my job.
But give me more of something else and I guarantee you'll see a better teacher.