The "merit" pay plan will make absolutely no difference in the quality of teaching. It is already being mocked in the education community. It is being touted as a "carrot" for the teachers as if the teachers have been holding back their best efforts until this chance for an extra $100 came along.

We don't need any foundation or experts to tell us what we already know.

Pay the teachers a better than average salary and you will improve the quality of teachers.

It really is simple.

Unfortunately our legislature doesn't like simple solution to education in Utah.

Besides the fraud and corruption in Utah's education system that interferes with the ability of teachers to perform and educate the merit system not enough. What drives teachers away from teaching is the pay and illegal foreign nationals in classes that don't belong there. Teachers are being forced to teach in two languages which is rediculous. Foreign nationals do not belong in our shcools, by constitutuonal law but our political entities are too afraid to obey the law. Teachers must put up with the political interference with their duties and the pay is not worth the stresses they must endure from the political games played in our education system. In the last 10 years Utah's education system has gone from fair to poor, all because of illegals and politics. Teachers also face the onslaught of the UEA and PTA both of which should keep their noses out of education and stop interfering. These 2 organizations are a union and a parent organization that are not affiliated with education and don't work in the classrooms. Utah's board of education are appointed individuals that are beholding to politics and their benefactors. Teachers deserve better pay than most college professors and other professionals.

Teaching is my second profession. I retired from the public sector and went into teaching because it was my dream. I don't understand how the districts attract and retain young teachers. There isn't enough money in it to take care of the needs of a family. Without my reirement supplement I couldn't stay in the classroom. Pay teachers a good wage and you will keep good teachers.

After 7 years of teaching, and being called every name in the book by your little darlings, I have left Utah. Try this one on for size, folks: I graduated with nearly a 4.0 in education and several fields of science. I have taught AP in several disciplines, and those I taught generally got 4's or 5's on their AP tests. I love science, and I tried to instill that love - or at least a tolerance - of science in my students. To put it bluntly - I am a bloody good teacher. But, it's awful hard to teach someone who routinely calls me a "witch" with a capital "B," who's parents think I am incompetent because their little darling deserves more of my undivided attention than the other 36 students in their class; when the school administration tells me to buck up and take the disrespect because "that's just how kids are these days." No, Utah, you can throw all the money you want at the problem, and it won't solve a thing. You need to somehow teach your children to respect teachers. Without that respect, good teachers won't stick around. Your brats aren't worth it.

Unlike this article portends, experience is a huge factor on quality teaching. As a teacher, I would say that I'm much better at teaching because of practicing it, just like I'm much better at playing the piano because of practice. Your first few years are eye-opening and most teachers take a few years to get a handle on discipline and lesson design. Colleges can give new teachers a bunch of theory, but only when you practice that theory in relation to your own personality, do you get a handle on good teaching. I mentor many new teachers and it is fun to watch them grow as teachers. They are hard working individuals who are learning the practice of their trade, and in reality, I am still learning things even though I've been teaching for 15 years. Knowledge is the easy part, the art of teaching takes a bit of practice.

I also have an advanced degree, and it does have some minimal impact on better teaching, but advanced degrees are really where you know a whole lot more about one or two things. Having a broad educational background with experience is better than more college degrees in my opinion.

I am sure the legislature will file most of that report in the trash bin as it costs too much (ie class size reduction). They will find some way to belittle, berate or bully teachers because they aren't good enough, perhaps tying a greater portion of pay to unrealistic standards that are out of the control of the teachers.

Bob G.,

You are totally off base, besides being racist. Utah teachers don't look at a child based on race or country of origin. It also happens to be illegal to deny children an education because of international agreements that protect US children from discrimination when abroad.

Have you also considered that Utah along with most Western states historically was Mexican land? We created a 'situation' so we could invade Mexico intending to take this land by force.

Your rants against the PTA and UEA are unfounded. The UEA does not invade the classroom. The PTA when present are volunteering in the class.

The real problem for retention is disrespect which teachers get from the legislature, parents, administrators and most often the students.

There are some very good comments above. Experience is important. I should have been fired my first year. The second and third years I held my own, and by the 4th and 5th years I was doing pretty good. By about 15 years I was at the top of my game.

No matter how you try to get around it and go on the cheap, teacher pay will determine the quality of teachers. The low pay has caused districts to "scrape the barrel" just to find qualified teachers. In fact the governor had to get professional work visas in order to bring in teaches from Mexico to fill the shortage last year.

In business if you want the best employees you have to pay the highest wage. A generation ago students, especially women went into education because they could teach and raise a family at the same time. Now employers that pay much more than education provide support for women with families.

Also, until the 80s education and nursing were the only real professions open to women. Now all professions are wide open including law enforcement and the military, and education is just not competing with professional pay.

The problems with teacher quality and retention are more than money (although it would be nice to make more!). The levels of civility, the demands of parents, expectations fueled by No Child Left Behind and expectations and critcisms from business and law makers are all fueling job disatisfaction.You can not continue to demand more from a system that is on overload. Dialogue, rather than imposed solutions and threats would go a long way toward identifying the issues and solving the problem.

Both of my parents are public school teachers (one teaches music, the other teaches English). I grew up watching them pay for half of their classroom expenses out of their own pockets. They are both amazing, well-loved, inspiring teachers, and I'm glad there are still teachers like this, even in a state where they get paid worse than anyone. If we're going to be so insistent on having so many kids (which is not a bad thing), we should be willing to pay a proportional amount for their educations. It's not enough to assume that the problem lies in under-motivated teachers. We should should be looking at why these teachers are under-motivated, and how to coax the motivated ones into staying or coming here to teach.

Many teachers, past and present, have desired the intrinsic rewards that come from teaching. With the absolute void of respect from students and parents, feeling "good" about teaching is a fleeting goal.
Now, all that is left are the extrinisic, namely... money. Either pay us more or we just will keep on walking elsewhere.

With high class size averages, minimal technology and resources, I don't even think we should be debating teacher quality. Let's give teachers the tools they need first, and then we can analyze how well they are doing their jobs. How can we be fair in judging our teachers, if we can't even provide what they need to be successful?

I recently attended a conference where Stephensen was quoted as saying teachers didn't take advantage of technology.

Where?

Just how am I to afford all this great technology? I'm typing this on a borrowed computer!

I'd like to see the _Senator_ pass bills based on how much money he can make from bake sales and voluntary donations.

This state has Sunday School Syndrome. People believe that if you can teach Sunday School you can teach Public School. Our current Legislative Leadership hates public school teachers.
Curtis and his band of neo-clowns want to destroy what is left of our public schools to fuel their desire to build a private sector educational service. I think we are in trouble and our best teachers are retiring and moving out of State. God help us all!!!