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Sunday, August 5, 2012

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The Elusive Quest for Merit Pay

I have often noted that merit pay has been tried again and again for nearly a century. It never works and it never dies.
There is a materialist strain in American culture that is certain that everyone will respond to a cash reward.
Advocates claim that the chance to win extra money will make teachers work harder and produce higher test scores and even make the teaching profession more attractive.


Rahm Emanuel’s Financial Illogic

Chicago Public Schools have a large deficit. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is responding to the deficit by encouraging the growth of charter schools to carry the burden of educating the city’s children.
One reason for the growing deficit is declining enrollment, caused in large part by the CPS promotion of charter schools. The  more students leave the CPS system to enroll in charters, the less state aid CPS gets. As more charter schools open, the financial crisis gets worse. Thus, Mayor Emanuel’s policy makes the deficit worse by stimulating the exodus of students from the school system and reducing its revenues.
One of the mayor’s favorite charter chains is UNO, which is based in the Latino community. UNO just leased a