Schools should be safe, fair, dependable, open, trustworthy, deliberate.

[jazzjunkysue]

The merit pay idea ignores the very purpose of teaching: To givbe kids a safe, happy, comfortable home away from home to learn in.

If you pit new teachers against veterans, classroom against special ed, music, language and art against gym and library, schools become competitive, not safe and nurturing.

If you want the cut throat back-stabbing winner-take-all feeling of corporate american to grow your child up for you, that's what you'll get with merit pay.

I say, let's put off that kind of atmosphere at least until they take their first job.

They're only children!!

[Belial]

1. You are correct.. however.. its not gonna happen

until you get some of the parents to take a greater accountability.. Seems like too many folks use school as daycare..

[KittyWampus]

2. Non-sense. Pay tiers give teachers incentive to do a good job. "Merit Pay" is going to happen

and rather than fighting it, teachers and those against it better get on the ball and figure out the best way to evaluate performance using criteria that works for them and students.

At this point, teachers against merit pay sound like doctors who refuse to deal with those in their ranks who draw the most malpractice suits.

Oh, and paying teachers who mentor the newbies could very well be part of what determines that "merit pay".

[The2ndWheel]

3. The problem with anything, but especially schools, is diversity

You have kids being born to parents. You have kids going to school. You have kids going back home. You might have parents saying one thing, and then teachers saying another, and don't even start with what the kids might want to say.

What we need to do is, first, take parents out of the equation. That way, the kid isn't screwed up right off the bat. So you either just get the sperm and egg from people with no parenting required(parenting can be paid for in taxes), or make reproduction outside of a lab impossible.

Next, since there are no parents(except those who have chosen parenthood service as a career), just adults being economically productive, you raise the kids in some sort of national institution where experts have studied what is required for the best development of children for future productivity. Home and school are then the same place, but, without the inefficiencies of diversity.

Now once the children are 18, what would you do about college? That's a bit tougher. Is college part of the institution, or is it outside of it? They'll have to figure that one out.

In this world, there are no real "parents", so nobody is able to blame the parents, because nobody actually has any children, even though children do exist. Nobody is able to blame teachers, since the only job of the adults is to be good at their job, and not worry about the children that they don't even know. Nobody can blame the children, since they all grow up in the exact same environment, and there is plenty of help for any student that needs it.

Think of all the other problems that could solve. The abortion/reproductive rights debate? Done. STD's? Gone. Private vs. public education? Not even an issue. Overpopulation? The system just doesn't make more people.

Although it would need to be a global thing, not just a national one. Again, diversity.

I'm kidding, but, if we really want to solve some problems...