Merit Pay dropped

from The Dallas Morning News; May 18, 2009

AUSTIN – Texas' longest running merit pay plan for teachers is being quietly retired this year after getting lackluster returns on its $100-million-a-year investment.

Within a school finance bill recently approved by the House – and now before the Senate – is a provision that terminates the Texas Educator Excellence Grant program after four years and shifts some of its funds to a second plan launched this school year.

When you can't measure the product directly, you "wing it." If you've got the money and are pretty free with your definitions, I'm all for it. If you actually profess to be able to tell the best teachers from the others then you owe it to the country to trumpet the details of that ability from the highest point. I'd be happy to be shown that merit pay can be distributed fairly but I'm not holding my breath.

Measure me, not my students.