Reader comments
Districts statewide developing plans based on educator performance

Sounds good on paper but it really is a HORRIBLE idea.

The best teachers with the most experience will now only teach the advanced "gifted" kids. The kids that really need the best teachers will now get the first year, no experience teachers.

Plus what a paperwork nightmare and a bunch of wasted time.

Legislators, just pony up the money to make teaching a decent profession once again. Stop trying to squeeze the lost drop of oil out of an already dry rock.

Injecting some performance compensation into public ed pay is long overdue. We test the kids to death and expect teachers to improve test scores, and now there is finally the faintest hint of a chance to earn more if you are effective.

Don't base pay on "test results", thats when we see teachers teaching to "pass the test". I think it should be based on "achievement". How far a student moves from the beginning of the year to the end. Compentencies should be built into the curriculum, but lets base it on "achievement" this will make it far across the board. if a student is gifted he will have to show improvement, if a student is less gifted he/she only needs to show improvement. So many teachers I know only teach what their kids need to know to "pass the test". I think thats wrong.

So who decides which teachers get the most money? An administrator, not sure they should be trusted to be fair, they will continue to play favorites. They will use this increase in power to up their bully and intimidation tactics. New teachers or teachers an administrator does not like will get stuck with classes of 40 or 50 of the worst kids in school, while other teachers get 25-30 of the top students. This idea just seems to give more power to an already corrupt educational adminstration.

I like the idea that you reward the WHOLE school for meeting goals. That way, the teachers work as a team - not against each other.

I think that the legislature and President in Washington, D.C. should be paid for their performance as well. It is easy for them to demand benchmarks to the Iraqi government, why not the American people give benchmarks to our own government. Our government leaders should not be paid until they have done the following:

1. Balanced the federal budget
2. Fix the Social Security shortfall
3. Provide a balanced energy policy
4. Fix border security problems

We could also provide a list of benchmarks for our own state government to meet.

I like the idea of basing a portion of incentive pay on teacher evaluations. The problem I see fom my experience in the Utah school system is that the day the teacher is being evaluated is always the day they just happen to give the best lesson they give all year in order to show off. I like the idea of installing a video camera in each classroom that records every day of class and they you can choose a random sample of 10 days throughout the year and review the teacher on these days based upon their efforts in the classroom. This would also be useful in any case where a teacher is accused of wrongdoing in the classroom. Tapes would be available to review at any time.

To Dan:

Finally someone with an idea that might actually work. Reward the whole school and all of its teachers if they meet goals that measure progress.

Excellent idea. Everyone would get on board and even the teachers that get the advanced kids would still take interest in the other students.

Can I vote for Dan to be my legislator?

Congress and the President do have to meet benchmarks to get paid--it's called an election. The House of Reps must face re-election every two years. They must explain to their voters why they should be sent back. If they don't meet your benchmarks, don't keep voting for the same person.

Want to improve student achievement?

Reward parents who have their children well rested and well nourished, and so, ready for school.

Reward parents who encourage reading, physical fitness, and a balanced life for their children.

Reward parents for getting their children to do the assigned homework.

Reward parents for encouraging their children to behave and to pay attention in class.

Reward parents who volunteer in their classrooms, who serve on PTA boards, who are on school community councils.

Help parents to see that they make a huge difference in the education of their children.

(Now, change the schools themselves. Better pay, better budgets, better facilities, better materials would be a start, but only a start.)

As a parent, I'm against putting camera's in the classroom because the last thing we need is some pedophile sitting behind the monitor staring at my child. No thanks to privacy intrusions. How about unannounced evaluations instead. That would solve the problems of teachers preparing fabulous lessons on evaluation days.

So why does Chris Cannon keep getting elected or people like Chris Buttars make it through the primaries? I would hardly think that an election under current election laws is a good evaluation. In Utah County, all you need to have is an (R) by your name and a bit of incumbent status to get elected and we all know that the caucus system is where the real power is in Utah, not the general election. Good try though.

Give me the top kids, and I'll give you the top results.

THIS IS THE WORST IDEA I HAVE HEARD IN YEARS!!! turn children into numbers and watch the struggling ones get left behind and the others get all the attention.

...sounds good! I could an extra tank of gas ...which is all it will probably amount to....

I wouldn't waste my time with this. I teach because of the students, not the amount of money I make. This plan just seems to be another form of control.