In order to
solve the problem with our failing school systems, many have brought about the
idea of merit based pay. This is the idea that teachers’ salaries will be
heavily dependent on his or her performance in the classroom. Today, many
teachers work under tenure. Those in favor of merit based pay believe that
tenure is one reason in which schools fail. It is allowing bad teachers to
continue to teach, not giving students the proper education.
Those in
favor of merit based pay say that this will increase the morale inside the
classroom. Teachers will become more motivated to push their students in the
right direction. It will push them to create better lesson plans that will
increase student performance. Merit based pay is like an incentive. If the students
perform well on standardized and state tests and show an improvement in the
classroom, then they will get a bonus or increase in their pay rate. It acts as
a motivator for teachers. If teachers know that no matter what they do in the
classroom or how well their students are performing, they’re getting the same
amount of money as every other teacher, then there is no motivation to do
better.
In contrast,
those who disagree with the merit based pay plan believe that it will not
benefit the students whatsoever. They argue that schools which incorporate this
new system of pay into their school often show little or no improvement in the
students’ performance in the classroom. These schools often abandon merit based
pay within the first few years. They argue that a plan like this does not work
because those who implement the plan do not follow the same qualifications as
to what is considered a successful teacher. Some schools may judge there
teachers on solely state and standardized test performance while others may
only look at grade improvements within the classroom. They believe that in
order for this plan to be successful, there needs to be set guidelines for
every school to follow to properly judge whether a teacher deserves an increase
in pay. This is why merit based plans are not as successful as they should be.
The schools also have to be willing to change in order to make a change.
I believe
that merit based pay will help failing schools in the long run. It will help
weed out all of the bad teachers that have been hiding from the system under
tenure. I think that this plan provides a good incentive for teachers to
improve their lesson plans and think about how they can help their students
succeed. The more their students succeed, the bigger the teachers’ paycheck.
However, there must be a set of strict guidelines which evaluators must follow
in order to determine whether a teacher deserves a raise. Teachers should be
evaluated, not only on students’ performance on standardized tests, but also
their improvements on grades in the classroom. Evaluator should also look at
the lesson plans and how the teacher deals with each individual student to meet
different needs.
