Wednesday, October 11, 2006
MNEA Turns the Tables on Critics
Paying teachers more based on student test score performance does not make them better teachers. It makes them better at teaching to certain tests. So, I don't have a problem with the MNEA rejecting extra money waved around in their face attached with stipulations of teaching to test. But the MNEA President's flanking countermove on the School Board was brilliant: spend the $400,000 directly on Alex Green and Inglewood elementary students rather on the teachers. It was moral jujitsu: now opponents who constantly wail that the teachers want more money for selfish reasons much lower than the children do not have a leg on which to stand. There is a certain level of hypocrisy in advocating incentive pay as being more "for the kids," when it really constitutes a means of doing as little as possible for education at minimal cost to taxpayers.
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What a wonderful way to spend the money. This is a great development for the school in my area.
ReplyDeleteAwesome news.
Oh, after reading the article I see this was just the president's proposal, not something that was acted upon. Oh well, it's still a brilliant suggestion.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I should have made the fact that it is a proposal clear. But it is brilliant, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteYeah, brilliant flanking maneuver. And somewhere there is a face minus a nose (as in cut off your nose to spite your face). The Nashville Scene commentary got it right on this episode.
ReplyDeleteLiz is just being contrarian as always; that's what she's paid for. It's for the kids, right? Who cares how $400,000 is spent as long as it helps the kids. Anonymous donors and commenters should be happy with that; unless they have other partisan axes to grind.
ReplyDeleteNo, no, no. It is only 'brilliant' in the same way that Karl Rove is 'brilliant' for spinning style and no substance. No one would disagree that schools could not find a way to spend $400k and that some of that might on a short term basis enhance learning by giving new materials or computers or whatever. But what would NOT change is teacher behavior. Incentives do change behavior. What MNEA said is no different than what it always says: give us more money and we'll give you more of the same.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you got to watch those teachers; they're all bad seeds. They're just all motivated into the classroom by greed. That's why they have Karl Rove's power and money.
ReplyDelete