Reply #89: Well, these ideas are worth looking at, but they are from the editorial

[calteacherguy]

not what Obama said:

"For instance, we agree with Springfield Public Schools Superintendent Norm Ridder who believes that teachers who agree to commit to working at certain Title 1 schools, where levels of poverty are higher and the population tends to be transient, should receive their own special stipend — a form of merit pay — because of the difficulties of taking children who are less prepared to learn and improving their achievement. Ridder hopes to implement such a plan in Springfield, and we believe it's the logical first step toward talking about a real performance-based-pay system.

We also agree with school board member Jean Twitty who suggested during her recent campaign that principals ought to be the first in line for performance based pay. Indeed, for those teachers who are afraid that merit pay leads to competition instead of cooperation, we say, why can't we have both? One of the successful elements of merit pay that has been instituted in school districts across the country has been the concept of rewarding groups of teachers, either in a subject area or specific school, for working together to raise performance."

If Obama denounces teaching to the test and merit pay based on standardized tests, great. Setting teacher against teacher is not the solution. Furthermore, any solution to our educational crises must involve parent, child, teacher, and community. We need to be wary of those who place the responsibility for the ills of the system on the backs of hard-working, dedicated teachers.

It does take a village.