Should Teachers Pay Be Linked To Student Grades

[lizbud]

Our city (public) schools test scores are the lowest ever. There
are a few great schools , but they are all private ones. This article is
about trying this method of measuring school teachers pay. I think it
sure wouldn't hurt to try.

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/23176131/detail.html

[pomtzu]

Seems it would be a good way to drive away good teachers and send them seeking employment in a more equitable school district.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Some kids just won't learn no matter how hard you try and teach them. One of my step sisters would not do her homework. I'd hate to think of some poor teacher getting penalized because my step sister was stubborn and dumb.

[Asiel]

I think it's a terrible idea. Why blame teachers and penalize them because some kids refuse to learn. I agree it would only serve to drive great teachers away for greener pastures. One can only do so much and if kids don't want to learn a teacher is up against a brick wall no matter what she/he does.

[IRescue452]

Noooooooooooo. That means teachers will be giving out the answers without actually teaching the kids how to get the answers themselves. It happened all the time in my high school where teachers would just go down the list and tell you the answers.

[Daisy and Delilah]

My sister is a teacher and I need to ask her what she thinks.

I think it is extremely unfair to the teachers. My sister practically kills herself every year to get her kids ready for tests. FCAT particularly. She loves doing it but I think it is wrong to punish a person that gets stuck with kids that can not learn or don't want to learn.
It's also a problem in schools with students that don't speak English. We have alot of kids here in Florida that don't speak English yet. It can be next to impossible for the teachers to teach those kids what they need to know.

In some classrooms that are predominately English challenged, I believe there are allowances made for those groups to a certain point. However, I'm not sure how it works if the majority of the kids do speak English. Do the non speaking kids bring down the averages of the classroom/school? Alot of questions for my sister.

[blue]

That means teachers will be giving out the answers

My first thought as well.

[Alysser]

I also think it's an awful idea to blame teachers, while there have been many in my school years that are bad and some were very recent - some of them were amazing people. They worked hard, even with the worst of kids. Some of those kids just didn't pass because they simply didn't care - not the teachers fault. They very often worked hard to try and teach them with after-school help, etc. to no avail. While, I've met bad teachers I still don't think it justified. But I will say also, they're some god-awful teachers out there. Some of their ways of teaching were not working, they knew it and did not care. They're just some that plainly hate kids, and some that have attitude problems and alot of things that just annoyed me. While, I've never suffered to badly from a teacher, I know some kids who did.

[king2005]

Ummmm why are the teachers at blame? Its most likely the parents faults. If your not going to help your kid with school or force them, then it YOUR OWN fault your kid is failing.

Parents need to learn to take control of their childrens actions & educations. My dad was on my case all the time when I was young. If I didn't do my homework I didn't get dinner until it was done. You only pull that stunt a few times & learn quickly to just do the work.

How many parents do NOTHING educational wise for their kids during the summer months? My folks would quiz me on random things to keep my brain working. I didn't do any homework during the summer months, but I did random math, spelling, & answered random questions my dad asked me.

I'm not the smartest person out there, but I'm FAR from being stupid like a lot of people I know & have met. Its terribly sad.

My biggest issue is math. My teachers were terrible with me. I was the one singled out all the time & was reminded that I was stupid. G-thanks. It got so bad that I cannot do basic math infront of people, I freeze up & panic. My friends know this so when we play board games they would just say the total on the dice for everyone, so I wouldn't feel stupid (which I'm not). Now when I go grocery shopping I can keep the growing/changing totals in my head just fine.

This is another issue I have with teachers, just because someone can't spell all the crazy long & weird scientific words doesn't mean they should fail when they know the darn answer & can apply the knowledge. I was one of the BEST students in grade 12 advanced Bio, & OAC Bio, but because I couldn't spell many of the crazy words I nearly failed the classes.. How the heck is that fair/right? I was TEACHING other students the stuff as I KNOW Bio like the back of my hand (well knew, lost some of it now as its been so many yrs).

opps, ranted.. I'll stop..

Teachers are a problem, but Parents are an even bigger issue.

[Miss Z]

Its most likely the parents faults. If your not going to help your kid with school or force them, then it YOUR OWN fault your kid is failing.

That could well be true, however I think a lot of it also depends on the classroom atmosphere. It's pretty hard for one student actually wanting to get on with work whilst everyone else is trying to make the teacher's life as difficult as possible. It's certainly true of the state system here that the bright kids get lost amongst the crowd.

Maybe we should steer our education system away from getting every kid into college. Not every student is going to go to higher education so why waste money trying to get every snotty kid into college?

You took the words right out of my mouth as far as the university system over here goes. We're a little country with a lot of people, and we simply don't have the places available to meet the government's quotas of having so many ethnic minority/dyslexic/autistic/deprived background students before academic potential and course suitability is even assessed.

I can't say I agree with the topic of the post, as I think teachers in failing schools deal with some horrendous situations that they really shouldn't have to deal with. Knives, physical violence, and just the other day I was reading about a teacher who was put through a trial on rape allegations (she was in fact stalked by three of her students, who then, with the whiff of compensation, decided to blame her when she gave them the cold shoulder.) However, I also don't think it's much worse than the millions of pounds poured into these schools to give them fancy new 'academy' names, and facilities that are usually graffiti'ed or burned down in due course. I don't know how to save the state system, but I don't believe in either of these methods.

[Pembroke_Corgi]

As a teacher, I have to say NO, I don't agree with this legislation. I don't really think people in "normal" jobs have a grasp on just how hard teachers work or how many hours they put in, or how much money they spend out of their own pockets to teach their students as best they can.

When I was teaching, I thought about my students a lot out of the classroom, and ways I could help them, not to mention all the school nights/conferences/meetings/grading/preparing lessons, etc. It is a LOT of work, and even if you try to reach every student there are parents who will completely blow you off, kids that come to school hungry, and many, many expectations you need to meet. As a teacher you can do everything within your power to help your students and it may work some or even most of the time. However, it is not within a teacher's control to make sure parents are doing their jobs, too. You would not believe the amount of parents who ignore correspondence and refuse to help their kids or even make sure they do their homework (or even make sure they have a lunch/and or lunch money!).

I believe if teachers get paid based on student performance, the only schools that will have enough teachers are ones in wealthy areas. The kids who really need the help will again fall short.

[Lady's Human]

Money spent per capita DOES NOT EQUAL better education.

[Cataholic]

As a teacher, I have to say NO, I don't agree with this legislation. I don't really think people in "normal" jobs have a grasp on just how hard teachers work or how many hours they put in, or how much money they spend out of their own pockets to teach their students as best they can.

As an attorney, I can say the same thing. I can easily think of $30,000 in uncollected attorney fees- I did the work, and I did not get paid. I have a blackberry, internet access at home to stay in touch with people on Friday- the day I don't work, and don't get paid (LOL), I have certain clothes I buy for work, I call people and re-remind them of court dates, I meet clients at their homes or some other place to make it easier on them. I could go on and on. MOST professionals work more than the 'face time' reflected in the office. I had a client call me at 10 pm one night! And, no, it was not an ER. I didn't sign up for a 9-5 job, and I knew that going in. Saturday appointments cause the client says, "I work during the week, so I need to see you after work or on the weekend". Uh, hello? Guess what? I work, too! During the day, and not on the weekends (as a rule).

I don't think teachers hold the market on how hard they work.

[Nomilynn]

It doesn't seem like it is in the best interest of the students. Instead of helping the kids be the best they can be, it will be almost like each "smart" child is another point. I think it would end up creating a system where "smart" kids thrive and ones who don't "make the grade" fall through the cracks.

[blue]

THis may be the liquor talking or maybe the documentary Im watching but...

Maybe we should steer our education system away from getting every kid into college. Not every student is going to go to higher education so why waste money trying to get every snotty kid into college?

Here in the USA we could rebuild our workforce with the public education system. IF a kid has an aptitude for working with his hands it should be nurtured with programs and not stifled with courses geared to get them into a school they have no interest in attending.