The time for teacher merit pay may have arrived

on March 31, 2009 at 7:59 AM, updated March 31, 2009 at 8:00 AM

Should teachers whose students excel get bonuses?

Well, sure.

Teaching is their job, and if their students - our children, our future - master their schoolwork and don't merely muddle through, educators should be rewarded for a job well done.

It's called merit pay, and it's getting a lot of attention after President Barack Obama embraced the concept this month.

In the past, teachers and their unions had roundly denounced the idea of paying individual teachers for excellence in the classroom.

Surprisingly, the initial reaction out of some Michigan educators this month has been cautious curiosity - but not outright rejection.

A statewide teachers' union, the Michigan Education Association, said its members are not universally opposed to merit pay. But that union and some other educators who have weighed in on the idea are opposed to measuring teaching success with a single, standardized test.

On that, we may agree.

The history of using a test once a year to measure all students in all regions using the same benchmarks is spotty.

The national No Child Left Behind mandate has clobbered some schools and rewarded others, based in our state on the Michigan Educational Assessment Program test - the notorious MEAP exam.

Educators are right when they warn that some students may score poorly because of many other factors outside of learning - they're having a tough time at home, they don't feel well, they're unmotivated that day - factors any parent can understand.

So how do we rate teachers for merit pay?

It may take a deeper measure of student success. Teachers will tell you that tests are just a part of a bigger picture of how students are doing in school. Has their performance improved through the year? Do they eagerly and accurately participate in classroom discussions?

Some teachers worry that merit pay would destroy a team approach in schools that has proven effective in improving student performance. If that's a worry, perhaps merit pay may be applied to small teams of teachers.

If there are weak teachers in such a group, surely the others would pull them along or push out those who are unwilling to change or improve. Such self-interest would be a powerful motivator, even in a group.

Finally, there's the question of where money for merit pay bonuses would come from. In Oscoda Area Schools, one of the few Michigan districts experimenting with merit pay, there's barely enough money for $250 bonuses at the end of this year.

In a state where schools and state government have no money to spare, finding some more for merit pay is a problem. If federal dollars aren't available, perhaps merit pay could come from private money, as the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland advocates in its 2008 report that calls for an overhaul in teacher compensation.

Our public schools are charged with educating students because it's in society's best interest. With many jobs requiring a college degree these days, our students need the best public-school education possible so they are prepared.

With that in mind, the new Michigan Merit Curriculum that started in 2007-08 for the high school classes of 2011 sets high standards for those students, and so, also for their teachers.

Both students and teachers have struggled with the new standards. A lot of districts are now changing their approach toward teaching, especially to meet the Michigan Merit math requirements.

Merit pay might be one way of making that mandate work. A reward for teachers who get the very best out of their students.