The Merits of Merit Pay
The whole merit pay for teachers thing really burns my ass. Here's a conversation about this topic (a conversation, which if I was a good Christian I would've walked a thousand miles to avoid, but since I am me I didn't, and I was too tired to walk a thousand miles) The other interlocutor shall be referred to as Woman In Favor of Merit Pay or WIFMP
WIFMP: "Whatever teachers get paid, they chose a job that has a direct impact on our society and they should be responsible for the results. Besides, the rest of us get paid or promotions based on our results."
Me: "Not true for investment bankers since about October of 2008, but let's just say you're right."
See, somewhere before I said that last sentence I should've pretended to have a stroke or find a way to stop talking because, if you've engaged in conversations like this with me (where I think I understand some of the mitigating factors) you know the rest isn't going to go well.
Me (some more): "So accepting the responsibility of educating a child on whatever level means you ought to be subject to public scrutiny in your compensation."
WIFMP: "Absolutely."
Me: "What about The federal income tax credit for dependent care?"
WIFMP: "What?"
Me: "By accepting a tax credit for having a kid you and I (not that I would have a kid with this person, I didn't even enjoy having the conversation with her) agree that we deserve to pay less tax because of the time and treasure we invest personally in raising, feeding and, to some degree...educating the child."
WIFMP: "I do that."
Me: "I'm sure you do. I suck at helping my kid with homework. Maybe 50% of my dependent care tax credit should be granted or revoked based on his test scores?"
WIFMP: "Are you saying I should get my taxes based on how my kid does in school?"
Me: "Well, I'm talking about me now, but we can talk about you if you want. You, me, and parents in general are the one constant in a child's life. The 5th grade teacher only has them for 5th grade. How can they be evaluated on the work done, or not done, from grades K thru 4? You were there the whole time, conferencing with the teachers, helping with homework, taking the point in educating the child. I think if the kids' scores are low it has way more to do with us. Don't worry, the test scores only impact half of our dependent care income tax credit. And we chose this responsibility, didn't we?"
WIFMP: "You are a jerk."
I can not deny it.
WIFMP: "Whatever teachers get paid, they chose a job that has a direct impact on our society and they should be responsible for the results. Besides, the rest of us get paid or promotions based on our results."
Me: "Not true for investment bankers since about October of 2008, but let's just say you're right."
See, somewhere before I said that last sentence I should've pretended to have a stroke or find a way to stop talking because, if you've engaged in conversations like this with me (where I think I understand some of the mitigating factors) you know the rest isn't going to go well.
Me (some more): "So accepting the responsibility of educating a child on whatever level means you ought to be subject to public scrutiny in your compensation."
WIFMP: "Absolutely."
Me: "What about The federal income tax credit for dependent care?"
WIFMP: "What?"
Me: "By accepting a tax credit for having a kid you and I (not that I would have a kid with this person, I didn't even enjoy having the conversation with her) agree that we deserve to pay less tax because of the time and treasure we invest personally in raising, feeding and, to some degree...educating the child."
WIFMP: "I do that."
Me: "I'm sure you do. I suck at helping my kid with homework. Maybe 50% of my dependent care tax credit should be granted or revoked based on his test scores?"
WIFMP: "Are you saying I should get my taxes based on how my kid does in school?"
Me: "Well, I'm talking about me now, but we can talk about you if you want. You, me, and parents in general are the one constant in a child's life. The 5th grade teacher only has them for 5th grade. How can they be evaluated on the work done, or not done, from grades K thru 4? You were there the whole time, conferencing with the teachers, helping with homework, taking the point in educating the child. I think if the kids' scores are low it has way more to do with us. Don't worry, the test scores only impact half of our dependent care income tax credit. And we chose this responsibility, didn't we?"
WIFMP: "You are a jerk."
I can not deny it.
posted by edP | 4:48 AM
3 Comments:
Right on Big Brother!
As a teacher, we're supposedly responsible for the entirety of a student but only a small percentage of the child's time is with us. Usually, it's factors outside of school that affect the kid's performance-- no sleep, no food, poor parenting, overindulgence, overscheduling, English being a second language, divorced/split/fractured households, etc etc --- just like you said- many many factors that we as teachers cannot control. I really like your idea about the child credit and I think your argument is a good one. Yes, there's probably some genetic predisposition for intelligence, etc but I feel that a lot of it is environment. Mom made sure we had our homework done BEFORE we played. She checked over the work and didn't tell us which ones were wrong, we had to find it and fix it ourselves. She quizzed us on spelling, the periodic table of the elements, and our times tables. Many parents today balk at that same stuff. They're too busy being their kid's friend or feeling guilty because they work outside the home or they push the extracurriculars rather than the academics. It's ridiculous the sense of privilege- the sense that these kids are owed something-- I can cut these people off because.... the red light isn't for me, it's for others.... I can cut in line because.... I can be mean on the playground because there's no follow through at home..... I remember coming home from school and me saying I got in trouble and mom's first words were "what did you do" not oh honey, they shouldn't have done that, it's your right to..... The schools can't lift a finger because they're afraid of being sued. Even if it's an unjust suit, the teacher/administrator/whoever is suspended until it's settled, and between all the court costs and sub fees for the suspended person, it's just cheaper to give in even if the case has no merit. I actually had a parent yell at me this morning because his kid was marked tardy. The bell is at 8:05. All kids 1st grade and up at our school (CA does not require kindergarten so tardies can't be used against the parents) are tardy at 8:06. This kid REGULARLY comes at 8:35-9:00 and we're supposed to excuse her because her nanny doesn't come until 7:30? Come on! The parent seemed to think it was a personal vendetta. No, your kid is tardy on a daily basis and it's not okay. You got away with it in kindergarten because we couldn't push the issue. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but the audacity is mindboggling!
The child credit was more of my attempt at a modest proposal, or just trying to be a burr in her saddle. I don't want to lose 50% of my tax credit
Yeah, I got that you were basically playing devil's advocate, but imagine if the parents of the kids who never do their homework, the ones who blame teachers for their kids' bad grades but they never keep track of the kids' homework/tests etc, lost tax money back or something like that..... it would never pass, they're be no way to police it, but imagine is parents were actually held responsible for their kids' education..... that'd be a novel concept in this day and age. It seems that there's been a core societal shift since we were kids- if we got in trouble at school or poor grades, we were held accountable at home. Now, the kid gets in trouble or has bad grades and the parents are calling the school complaining. It's a society of self centered people with a privileged mindset, and our society is tanking in response. Think of how Americans are perceived world wide-- we're a bunch of spoiled brats in comparison to most.
Post a Comment
<< Home