Teacher Pay vs. Student Performance

An article I wrote for my high school newspaper and won 1st place for in opinion writing in the A division.

“Only in the teaching profession do you get paid the same whether you are great or an abject failure,” said Chris Christie. A lot of nationwide attention has been given to the Governor of New Jersey due to his strong belief in merit pay for teachers.

Higher pay for quality work does sound attractive in any career, but “behind the scenes” it is more unpleasant.

Enticing teachers with money for better student performance gives the image that teachers are only in it for the money. If a teacher only cares about getting more money, it is possible they will do whatever it takes to get it, for example, helping their students cheat.

One of the jobs of a teacher is to provide a better understanding of a subject that will benefit them in life, whatever the pay may be.

Thus, if one’s goal is to be wealthy, teaching isn’t the career to pursue.

In addition, merit pay is unfair for the teachers who try their best to teach but have to deal with students who are lazy and don’t care about their education or future. This careless behavior of some students will greatly affect teachers.

Another fact to consider is: what about the teachers who have a high number of special education or bilingual students? The lower test scores of these pupils shouldn’t jeopardize a teacher’s pay.

Teachers are also not in control of the student’s home environment, health and nutrition, among many other factors that influences a student’s learning and schoolwork.

An Associated Press Stanford University Poll on education found that 68% of adults believe parents deserve heavy blame for what’s wrong with the U.S. education system, more than teachers, school administrators, the government, or teachers unions.

Furthermore, what about the feelings of the teachers? If merit pay were to take place, competition amongst teachers would be inevitable, instead of cooperation.

It would also be embarrassing for teachers, who will be thought of as “less qualified” by students, parents, and their colleagues, when in fact the teachers obviously put in a lot of time, effort, and money getting into college and receiving a teaching degree.

An experiment conducted by Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College in Nashville, Tenn., proved that the incentive of extra pay doesn’t work.

About half of the 300 middle school math teachers who volunteered for the project were given bonuses of up to $15,000 each for raising student scores above usual levels. The other half didn’t get any bonuses. After three years, there were no significant differences between the two group’s results.
One would think that after spending so much money thinking that a student’s test scores are based on the teacher’s efforts alone would be successful. But it wasn’t!

Rather the students should realize that they have to help themselves for their own good. This means students must be responsible, follow directions, do their work, and not depend on others. When students give teachers the respect and attention they deserve, the teachers in return will help the students who make it known that they do care about learning.

For those who do support merit pay, what evaluation system would be used to determine quality teachers? Test scores alone didn’t work. Besides, standardized tests aren’t the only measure of success. After all, what about the students who do well in class, but are not good test takers?

A student’s grades aren’t any different because a student’s work and effort determines their grades, whether good or bad.

Overall, merit pay is not a good idea. The cons in this situation outweigh the pros.

Currently, some criterias teachers are evaluated on include: planning and knowledge of subject, applying additional materials and information for students to better understand, variety of teaching methods, motivating interest and holding onto the student’s attention, neatness and organization, classroom management, cooperation with staff members and administrators, communication and relating to students and parents, etc. These should be some of the things a teacher should be judged on, not on student’s test scores.

Instead of intimidating and humiliating teachers, evaluations should be used to improve, assist, and enhance a teacher’s performance. When the teacher enjoys their job and subject, this will be passed on to some students, which would positively impact the student’s behavior and performance.

As a student who is considering a teaching career, I would like to be judged on my efforts as a teacher, not heavily by the student’s performance which is impacted by many factors beyond my control!