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The totally misguided idea of 'merit pay'

I 'M a public-school teacher, and I think merit pay is a wonderful idea. Why? Because I believe I'm a great teacher. Here are some examples from just this last year at my elementary school:

I 'M a public-school teacher, and I think merit pay is a wonderful idea.

Why? Because I believe I'm a great teacher. Here are some examples from just this last year at my elementary school:

S. is a very smart fourth-grader who scored at the advanced level on state tests. She also rarely spoke, never raised her hand in class and sat by herself at lunch.

What I did for S. was to have her whisper the answers to questions in my ear and then have the class clap for her. After a while, she was comfortable enough to answer out loud. I also arranged for other students to invite her to sit with them at lunch. Small things, but, by the end of the year, S. had one of the most frequent smiles in the classroom and, incidentally, scored advanced level on the state tests again.

B. has a reading disability and had never passed the state tests. She made significant progress until February, when her father suddenly died. For about two months, B. went backward.

What I did for her was to help her with her homework at the end of the day so she wouldn't have to ask her grieving mom. Every day, I said something to her that made her smile or laugh. They were small things, and, by June, she was reading more than 100 words a minute - but still didn't pass the state tests.

Five years ago, H. was one of 45 students with a learning disability who came to my room to get help with reading. When she emailed me out of the blue during the Christmas holiday, it took me a few minutes to place her face with the name. H. was writing to say she had a multitude of problems and knew I would listen. She also said she was considering suicide.

What I did for H. was to contact her mother (who had no idea her daughter was so depressed), get her school counselor involved, and then stay in touch with her for the rest of the school year. A few weeks later, her mother wrote that H. was in counseling and doing well. I don't know how H. did on her state tests this year.

M. has physical as well as learning disabilities and entered his fourth-grade class reading only simple words like the, a, in, yes and to. He was at a first-grade reading level at the end of third grade but, over the previous summer, forgot much of what he'd learned.

He rode a special bus to school apart from his peers. He had a full-time aide who tried to help him, but he usually refused to do anything and disrupted the class instead.

What I did for M. was to help him improve his reading to a second-grade level by the end of the year, transition him from the special bus to the regular school bus, decrease the hours for his aide, work with his parents to develop a reward system for school performance and arrange for him to have six weeks of tutoring during the summer in reading and math.

He had to take state tests on his actual grade level, not his academic level, and, of course, didn't pass.

These are a few samples from the 2010-11 school year. Not much different from the previous 24 years I've been teaching.

If merit pay were based on test scores, I wouldn't earn a cent. But if it was based on how I was an integral part in helping these and other students to improve in social and academic skills, to get past emotional problems and terrible life experiences, to become more independent and motivated, and to be ready for the next grade level, is there any doubt that I deserve merit pay?

But I'm not the only one who should be rewarded. I was just the special education teacher and worked with these students for just part of the day.

Their classroom teachers were with them for almost the entire school day and did much more for them than I did.

The art teacher, librarian, computer teacher, music teacher and gym teacher also worked with them.

The school counselor and the principal worked with them. The nurse, the secretaries, the cafeteria and recess aides worked with them. The social workers, speech therapists, physical therapists, and occupational therapists all worked with them.

Their parents, siblings, grandparents, friends, and clergy worked with them. Their community helped these students grow and become better people. (Doesn't the community also deserve merit pay?)

This year's state test scores have arrived. Now the politicians can figure out how to split it up so we each get the share we deserve.