IPSO FACTO MERIT PAY

The US Department of Education in 200 reported that nearly 50% of all teachers leave their profession within five years due to low salaries. The public education system in America is failing to prepare the youth to become the leaders of tomorrow. Thus many school districts have implemented the Merit Pay system in order to ameliorate the situation. This journal will discuss the implementation of merit pay which has already helped thousands of students discover their potential. Criteria that will be used in order to evaluate the system of Merit Pay will:

1. Bonuses should be based on student growth, not on level of attainment. 
2. Performance based teacher compensation fosters collaboration among teachers and staff, and avoids creating counterproductive competition.
3. All school employees are eligible for substantial performance compensation. 
4. Does Merit Pay offer a better alternative to the “seniority” based pay? 
5. End of the day the students have to succeed.

Now that there is solid criteria we can dive into this contested issue. Merit Pay revolves around individual student improvement. Teacher effectiveness is not measured by standardized exams, but rather the level of improvement achieved by the student. By rewarding growth, an incentive for educators to teach low-performing students would arise as they are given great room to showcase their students growth.

While those who claim that the fundamentals of Merit Pay or flawed, the Vaugn Next Century Learning Center proves them wrong. In innercity La, was an average poor K-12 public school. However when the school implemented Merit Pay, this once “failed school” went to win numerous awards. In addition this innercity public school earned the National Blue Ribbon Schools Award; an award, which recognizes top public and private schools nationwide. This is a living testament to the opportunity and potential a merit pay program has to offer to the students of America.

One of the big concerns in the education system regarding Merit Pay is competition among teachers. According to the Office of Education policy, the performance pay model institute at Vaughn and school districts nation wide have succeeded in fostering collaboration. What many fail to grasp, is that a large percentage of performance pay is based off of school wide growth. Thus it is in the best interest for teachers to collaborate amongst each other to insure a high level of school wide improvement. Dr. Ritter Chair of Education Policy at the University of Arkansas states “In fact, teachers in our merit pay schools are rewarded for the improvement in their own classrooms and for the gains of students throughout the school.” Ipso facto performance pay will ensure teacher collaboration.

Another factor that concerns unions is the notion that not all teachers would receive performance compensation. The Cato Institute touches on this point, “all employees within the school should be eligible for a performance pay bonus, not just teachers of core subjects.” It is imperative that teachers in the arts, physical and special education receive proper compensation based off of their performance.

What this system allows is for teachers to be recognized for their outstanding ability to teach and inspire. It puts all teachers on a level playing field. The current system bases pay off of seniority and credits. The component missing is the quality of education the students receive in the classroom. Teacher pay is rarely effected based on student performance. However seniority many times is valued more then the knowledge taught to the youth. This present system is unfair and unjust.

Schools in areas where graduation was unfathomable now have almost 100% graduation rates thanks to Merit Pay. It must remain clear, that the Merit Pay systems outlined are not hypothetical, but are substantive arguments that have all been implemented in American public school systems. "The relative decline of American education is untenable for our economy, unsustainable for our democracy, and unacceptable for our children. We cannot afford to let it continue. What is at stake is nothing less than the American dream." It is because I passionately agree with President Barack Obama, that performance pay is only just.