Schools need more money, not merit pay

Regarding Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s merit pay for teachers’

proposals, if he ties teacher job security and pay to student

performance, teachers will fight over the better students, who will

learn in spite of us.

And, good teachers who have the less able students will be

penalized. After my 30 years as an educator in the public school

system, I challenge the governor to find harder working individuals,

working together to ensure success for all students but getting

challenged daily for “their failure” in meeting students’ educational

needs.

What can be done? Ask the teachers! A major problem that continues

to be overlooked is class size. Do you really think students get the

full measure of a teacher’s attention when he or she has 190 to 200

students, or more, each day? Can you imagine even looking at that

much student work, let alone grading it or showing students how they

could improve? This has been a major issue that teachers have

identified for years, but the governor thinks a carrot-and-stick

approach will solve the problem by pitting teachers against one

another.

Competition between teachers is not the answer. Large class size

has bred testing with multiple-choice answers, mechanically

corrected, as a one-size-fits-all measure of student success. This

overlooks essay writing, process- demonstrations and/or original

thinking via discussions as ways in which a student can and should be

tested.

Yes, these are used in some of the classes but are so demanding

(with little payoff from the critics) that innovative teachers leave

the profession. If the governor wants to keep these teachers, listen

to them when they identify the barriers to high performance. All

students can learn, but all students cannot meet the same educational

standards. Put money into developing vocational programs for those

who are less able or who have strengths and interests in a particular

vocational field. Do you know how few public education programs are

available in vocational trades?

Some who can afford it seem to think private schools are better.

These schools usually have small classes, and the emphasis is on

classroom education. The major difference between private and public

schools is, however, in large measure, directly related to parents’

involvement.

In the public education system, instead of criticizing teachers

for poor student achievement, parents and the public should support

teachers and their students by making classroom education a priority.

Parents can do this by insisting on smaller class size; by being

involved in the educational process and communicating frequently with

the schools and teachers; by attending meetings so that they

understand the educational goals and grasp how they can help; by

giving their children a quiet place in which to study, time to study,

and show an interest in their success, not in a threatening way, but

by being excited about their successes and encouraging them when they

stumble.

Just these few steps would go a long way toward improving student

performance and would stop excellent teachers from leaving the

profession. The ultimate cost would be less, and the educational

decisions would then be back in the hands of the educators where they

belong. Is Schwarzenegger “The People’s Governor?” Educated people

will be the leaders of the future. Does the governor really think

cutting funding is the solution to improving education?

* BETTYE BUTTERWORTH is a resident of Corona del Mar.