Can Merit Pay Accelerate School Improvement

Can Merit Pay Accelerate School Improvement?

James W. Noll’s 2008 book Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Educational Issues discussed a variety of current issues in American education. Our EDM 501 class used Mr. Noll’s book and its topics as subject starting points for our debates this semester. I found many of the subjects to be very interesting and controversial. It was one of the final issues in the book, Issue #21 Can Merit Pay Accelerate School Improvement that stuck with me and it became my topic choice for this final paper.
What is Merit Pay? Merit Pay is teacher pay/salaries based on performance and productivity. Instead of salary schedules that pay according to years of service or earned course credits, teacher salaries would be performance based. Teacher performance is based upon student scores on assessment tests. Teachers could advance on the pay scale faster and not be paid the same salary as a teacher who doesn’t perform as well.
Pros of Merit Pay Supporters of merit pay believe Americans value hard work and results, and our capitalist system hinges upon rewarding such results (pbs.org). Most professions offer bonuses and salary increases to exemplary employees. People in favor of Merit Pay ask why the teaching profession should be any different. The thought of a poor teacher

and a very dedicated teacher earning the same salary just does not sit right with some people. The idea that incentivized teachers will work harder and produce better results is the key selling point for supporters of Merit Pay. Supporters ask what motivation do teachers currently have to go above and beyond the job’s basic requirements. They believe the possibility of a salary increase would potentially translate into smarter teaching and better results for students. If a Merit Pay system were to be established it is possible that it could help recruit and retain the nation’s brightest students. The most intelligent and effective teachers might reconsider leaving the profession if they feel that their extraordinary efforts were being recognized in their paychecks. There is a large belief that teachers are already highly underpaid and defenders of Merit Pay say this could address the injustice of undercompensated teachers (pbs.org). There are several parts of the country that are in the middle of a teacher shortage. Could Merit Pay inspire potential teachers to give the profession more consideration as a career choice? Supporters believe that if teaching salaries were tied to performance, the teaching profession would look modern and credible, thus attracting young college graduates to the classroom (idebate.org). There is a large percentage of our society that believes American schools are in crisis. Individuals that are pro Merit Pay think we should be open to trying almost anything new in hopes of making a change in schools.
The old ways of motivating teachers and running schools does not appear to be working, so supporters argue to think outside the box and try Merit Pay. In this time of crisis, no

valid ideas should be quickly denied as a possible solution to our problems in American schools.
Cons of Merit Pay Virtually everyone agrees that designing and monitoring a Merit Pay program would be a bureaucratic nightmare. There are many major questions that would have to be answered before educators could even consider implementing Merit Pay for teachers. Such deliberations could take away from the real goal of American schools which is to focus on the students and give them the best education possible. One of the biggest cons of Merit Pay would be the loss of good will and cooperation between teachers. In many places that have previously tried variations of Merit Pay, the results have often been unpleasant and counter-productive competition between teachers. Teachers in the past have usually worked as a team; Merit Pay can make teachers adopt an attitude of being out for only there own self. This would not be a good situation for students. Success is difficult, if not almost impossible to define and measure from school to school. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has already proven how the various unleveled playing fields in the American education system inherently set up a wide variety of standards and expectations. Consider the diverse needs of English Language Learners, Special Education Students, and low income neighborhoods, and it is easy to see why it would be opening a messy can of worms to define standards of success for American schools when the stakes are cash in the pockets of real teachers (idebate.org).

The opponents of Merit Pay argue that a better solution to the education crisis it to increase the salaries of all teachers. This solution seems to be more efficient answer than design and regulate a complex Merit Pay program. Simply paying teachers more and closer to what they are worth is a less messy fix. Opponents of Merit Pay are quick to point out that high-stakes Merit Pay systems could inevitably encourage dishonesty and corruption. Educators could be financially motivated to lie about testing and results. Teachers might have legitimate suspicions of principal favoritism which could cause complaints and even lawsuits. All of these touchy issues look to only distract from the needs of the students. Opinion/Conclusion Teaching is one of the most important jobs not only in America, but the entire world. I do believe that teachers are underpaid in most situations and a salary increase across the board for teachers probably would be a good thing. But people that get into teaching should know that they aren’t going to be extremely wealthy. Individuals that pursue teaching should be doing it because they have great passion for teaching, mentoring, and educating the youth of our country. If all of our countries teachers had great passion about their jobs they would be far less worried about creating new programs to potentially make more money. There are some parts of different proposed Merit Pay systems that I think are good ideas, but as a whole there are too many possible flaws. How would success of student performance be measured? Success is so different from school to school and student to student. In class we spoke a lot about difference in education just among a

couple different high schools in the Cleveland area. What is thought of as academic success at Cleveland St. Ignatius is probably much different than that of Max Hayes High School. If I were the teacher at Ignatius sure I would probably be in favor of Merit Pay system, but at Max Hayes I am not so sure. Most Merit Pay systems propose to use test scores as the method of figuring out student success and performance. What happens to teachers of subjects like physical education, health, foreign language, music or industrial arts? These subjects have never been part of standard tests in the past. I have seen some great teachers at both the high school and college levels. But I have seen just as many average to bad teachers. An unbiased system of reviewing teachers would be a good thing for the Education Department to look at. There are teachers all around the country which I consider to be in “cruise control”. These folks either have too much job security or they are just waiting for the day they can retire. It all comes back to passion and it is obvious to students when a teachers doesn’t have it or is losing it. Like I said above, teaching is a very important of a job. I wouldn’t argue that teachers are undercompensated and that a pay increase for all should be discussed. I just do not think it can be done with a Merit Pay system. The obstacles of corruption, defining success, and teacher competition are too much to overcome.

Noll, James Willam (2008) Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Educational Issues (15th edition). New York: McGraw-Hill.

http://debatepedia.idebate.org/en/index.php/Debate:_Merit_pay_for_teachers

www.pbs.org/now/shows/518/merit-pay-debate.html