Comment & Debate
“No merit to merit pay”. United Teachers Los Angeles. November 9, 2007: Teacher unions have historically resisted merit pay proposals because they undermine one of the core principles of teaching and learning: collaboration. Whether it is the informal discussion that takes place in the lunchroom or the more formal exchanges based on grade level, department, or small learning communities, these are only successful because as teachers we understand teaching is about working together to help our students, not competition for better pay.
At my home school, Manual Arts High, members of the social studies department often got together at lunch or after school to exchange ideas and materials. Teachers participated no matter the skill level of their students. We knew that by collaborating, our teaching would improve and in turn our students would be more successful.
Any merit pay proposal would effectively destroy collaboration at the workplace. If teachers knew that student test scores would result in higher pay, why would anyone want to share good ideas with their colleagues?
Beth Lewis. “Pros and Cons of Merit Pay For Teachers”. About.com: “Good will and cooperation between teachers will be compromised. In places that have previously tried variations of Merit Pay, the results have often been unpleasant and counter-productive competition between teachers. Where teachers once worked as a team and shared solutions cooperatively, Merit Pay can make teachers adopt a more ‘I’m out for myself only’ attitude. This would be disastrous for our students, no doubt.”
Joshua Pechthalt, vice president of United Teachers Los Angeles: “It doesn’t work. . . . You can’t create an educational community by pitting teachers against each other.”
The California Teachers Association spokesman Mike Myslinski: “It tends to pit teacher against teacher, depending how it is set up.”[1]
Jay Mathews. “Merit Pay Could Ruin Teacher Teamwork”. Washington Post. October 6, 2008: “is at odds with what I have learned from charter leaders who have made great achievement gains in their independent public schools. Their staffs thrive on teamwork. Everyone shares lesson plans, swaps ideas and reinforces discipline to help each child. Won’t big checks to just a few members of the team ruin that?”