Submitted by Nathaniel C Banks (not verified) on January 22, 2008 - 10:03.
As a school board member, I was going to forward this article to my Board as an "fyi", until I realized that merit pay was coming from a charter school. Since the notion of charter schools is anathema in our neck of the woods, I won't even waste my time forwarding the post. I would, however, like to comment on the "comments". I come from a community where 70% of the Black families are low income. So where do those students get "stacked"? Who is to teach them, and what should the expectations be? Based on the recent Supreme Court ruling which in effect hastens the re-segregation of our schools, they will be "stacked" where they won't affect the "normal" children and their families.
For those of us in the business of wanting all children to have a chance at success, I contend that the real 800 pound beast in the room is the notion that the public schools are in-fact, already fullfilling their mission. And that current attempts to change the system must be fought vigorously. This writer believes that there is evidence suggesting that education for the masses was never intended to actually "educate", but to prepare people for the stratified positions that they were expected to take once leaving school. Any attempt whether genuine or disengenuous proporting to materially change this paradigm must be vigorously opposed. So, even if the rather benign notion of setting a reasonable pay for service and then giving financial incentative to those who excell at providing that service is proposed, it must be fought at every point because such a notion might actually help change the order of the society. And that, unfortunately apprears to be un-American.
If nothing else, these initiatives which generate only moderate success when major overhauls and improvements are needed may at some point lead a segment of our society to push for the dismantling of public education as we know it and replacing it with people and systems who will truly educate the public, not just the affluent.
Merit Pay
Submitted by Nathaniel C Banks (not verified) on January 22, 2008 - 10:03.
As a school board member, I was going to forward this article to my Board as an "fyi", until I realized that merit pay was coming from a charter school. Since the notion of charter schools is anathema in our neck of the woods, I won't even waste my time forwarding the post. I would, however, like to comment on the "comments". I come from a community where 70% of the Black families are low income. So where do those students get "stacked"? Who is to teach them, and what should the expectations be? Based on the recent Supreme Court ruling which in effect hastens the re-segregation of our schools, they will be "stacked" where they won't affect the "normal" children and their families.
For those of us in the business of wanting all children to have a chance at success, I contend that the real 800 pound beast in the room is the notion that the public schools are in-fact, already fullfilling their mission. And that current attempts to change the system must be fought vigorously. This writer believes that there is evidence suggesting that education for the masses was never intended to actually "educate", but to prepare people for the stratified positions that they were expected to take once leaving school. Any attempt whether genuine or disengenuous proporting to materially change this paradigm must be vigorously opposed. So, even if the rather benign notion of setting a reasonable pay for service and then giving financial incentative to those who excell at providing that service is proposed, it must be fought at every point because such a notion might actually help change the order of the society. And that, unfortunately apprears to be un-American.
If nothing else, these initiatives which generate only moderate success when major overhauls and improvements are needed may at some point lead a segment of our society to push for the dismantling of public education as we know it and replacing it with people and systems who will truly educate the public, not just the affluent.