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Being a public school teacher that supports merit pay, I am not always viewed in a positive light. However, I feel that there are certain standards good teachers should adhere to and strive for. Teachers that are able to do so and excel, especially rising above the norm, should be recognized and rewarded.

There are several reasons I believe a teacher who rises above the norm should be rewarded with merit pay. Doing better than the norm means continued learning. This requires financial and time commitments. A teacher who rises above the norm has made a commitment to excellence, which requires extra time and effort. Such a teacher should be rewarded. Awards and recognition are sometimes given, but there should be some monetary reward as well.

Giving merit pay means there has to be some measurement standard. This means assessment of a teacher's abilities. The good teacher who is striving to do their best will not be concerned about such assessment. In fact, most who are trying to achieve to the best of their ability welcome assessment as a means to determine how they are doing.

I do recognize that not all assessments are fair, and some aspects of excellence in teaching may not be able to be assessed. However, it would be a rare occurrence that a teacher would only excel in those particular areas.

Another reason I support merit pay is that it may help weed out teachers who are only teaching because the money is relatively good and they have more time off than in other jobs. If raises are not given across the board, but must be earned, then the teachers who don't strive for excellence may move on to a career that is more fitting to them, since they won't receive as many pay increases. This will result in only the best teachers remaining.

In my career I have seen many teachers who do the very minimum required, refuse to further their education or attend any continuing education workshops. These teachers don't usually have the student's best interest at heart. They have a job, not a career. Their focus is on earning their salary, not in furthering the good of society by helping their students become the best they can be.

I am not opposed to giving raises for years of service and cost of living increases. However, I believe those raises should be less than an incentive raise. Give all teachers the cost of living and services raises, but give a substantial additional raise for excellent performance.

Giving public school teachers merit pay might not be a popular idea, but it is one thing that will help improve the quality of public school education. Laws may require certain performance, but it will not insure the quality of that performance like merit pay will.

Learn more about this author, Evelyn Guy.
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