Test-Score Based Merit Raises Are Dumb Idea

A small blurb in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram today said more and more "educators" are agreeing with the idea of teacher merit raises being tied to student test scores. I hope this is not true, because this is truly a dumb idea.

On the surface, it sounds great to the general public. People who don't think too deeply about our education problems probably think that the student's who score the best probably had the best teachers. If all classes , all schools and all districts were equal, that might be true. But they are not.

That is why the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers oppose the idea. They know that all classes and schools are not equal. It is much easier to teach in a rich school district in a safe and prosperous area with self-motivated students.

Even a poor teacher can look good (and receive merit raises) under those conditions. While a good teacher can be made to look bad in a school located in a poor and gang-infested area that doesn't even receive the proper books and supplies. The result is that teachers are going to be rewarded or punished for circumstances that are beyond their control.

Distributing merit raises this way will not solve our education problems, it will make them worse. It will draw good teachers away from poor districts and problem classes where they have little chance of receiving a merit raise. And these are the very areas that need the best teachers -- the ones who can motivate students.

Anyone can teach the motivated students in a rich district, but the poor and problem districts need the best and most creative teachers. Instead of rewarding teachers lucky enough to teach self-motivaters, we should be paying the higher wages to those teachers willing to teach in problem schools.

Sadly, those currently in charge of making the rules usually live in the richer districts, and those are the only ones they care about. That's why we get dumb rules like score-based merit raises.