Merit pay for teachers

“I’m not in favor necessarily of giving more preference for a teacher that’s performing somewhat better,” he said. “Measuring that I think is the wrong direction we’re going in.”

Nor have any of his colleagues — aware that teacher union activists make up a significant portion of their hyperliberal base — been publicly enthusiastic about real educational reform such as merit pay or school choice.

But for Sen. Dodd to put it such stark terms should frighten concerned parents.

Don’t reward the best teachers? Schools districts that actually try to measure the performance of those charged with teaching our children to read, write, add and subtract are going in the “wrong direction”?

This is astonishing.

Thankfully, it doesn’t appear that such claptrap will ultimately carry the day.

According to a Sunday Associated Press story on teacher pay, “While the words ‘merit pay’ drew hisses and boos at a recent teachers’ union convention, educators are endorsing contracts that pay bonuses for boosting students’ test scores.”

The trend started in Denver, where improvements in student test scores can raise a teacher’s pay. Austin, Texas, is experimenting with a similar program, and Florida and Minnesota have implemented statewide performance pay plans. Of course, some plans are more effective than others, depending upon the details. But these cities and states deserve credit for breaking the ice.

In fact, school districts across the country, including in Nevada, have the tools to track how students fare in individual classrooms — whether they make progress under a given teacher’s tutelage or whether they stagnate or regress. If education is really about “the children,” this information should certainly be used to reward those teachers who consistently move their students forward.

Unfortunately, Nevada for too long has been a “No School Reform” zone — too many Democrats in the state Assembly take their marching orders on education issues from teacher union officials who are married to the status quo.

But we suggest that if they continue to block common-sense change designed to ensure that our school districts produce graduates literate in basic English and math, they’ll eventually be left in the dust — just as Sen. Dodd will be in the Democratic presidential sweepstakes.