Obama on Education: Charter Schools & Merit Pay

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St. Louis Post-Dispatch Story

President Obama urged for sweeping changes in his first education speech on Tuesday.

"I call on states to reform their charter rules, and lift caps on the number of allowable charter schools, wherever such caps are in place."

Missouri law currently limits their locations to only St. Louis and Kansas City. Furthermore, he said recently in his budget message that he hoped to double financing for charter schools eventually, and that the Department of Education would help create "new, high-quality charter schools" while supporting the closing of those guilty of "chronic underperformance."

He also called for merit pay.

"Good teachers will be rewarded with more money for improved student achievement, and asked to accept more responsibilities for lifting up their schools...treating teachers like the professionals they are, while also holding them more accountable."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Story

Education Expert on MERIT PAY for KC

Proven extremely unsuccessful compared to the performance of other school districts across the country (and the world), the Kansas City school district is in need of serious reform.

Last Thursday Eric Hanushek, an expert on education policy, began a "What Works in Urban Education" series at the KC public library.

The conclusion: MERIT PAY is the answer!

Though Missouri ranked in the 51st percentile nationally for standardized testing, urban schools were performing significantly worse than the state as a whole. As anyone at these schools can testify, many problems (included high dropout rates, performance problems and ineffective, over-budgeted spending) plague the urban districts.

Many try to point to funding, however Hanushek points out: "It is no longer that the suburban districts are spending way more than urban schools." Out of 500 urban U.S. school districts, Kansas City ranked 54th highest for spending. So the real issue is spending this money wisely.

"We must recognize the importance of good teachers, and reward them," Hanushek said. "Everyone from the principals to the parents to the children knows who the good teachers are and who the bad teachers are. We need to get rid of the bad ones."

An increase in funding for teachers across the country has meant an increase for every teacher, not just the good ones. And, by definition, merit pay will correct this!

Improve the structure and they will stay

Activists Send Obama Messages on Education

A letter published in the Wall Street Journal, asked Obama to support charter schools and performance pay structures as a way to close the education achievement gap between minority and white students.

"In the afterglow of your election, Americans today run the risk of forgetting that the nation still faces one last great civil-rights battle: closing the insidious achievement gap between minority and white students. Public education is supposed to be the great equalizer in America. Yet today the average 12th-grade black or Hispanic student has the reading, writing and math skills of an eighth-grade white student."

"What can you and your administration do to close the achievement gap? Beyond expanding federal support for charter schools, as you have proposed, we would urge you to press forward with other policy reforms. The federal government should take most of the more than $30 billion it now spends on K-12 education and reposition the funding to support the recruitment and retention of the best teachers in underserved urban schools. High-poverty urban schools have many teachers who make heroic efforts to educate their students. But there is no reward for excellence in inner-city schools when an outstanding science teacher earns the same salary as a mediocre phys-ed instructor."


WSJ Full Letter from the Black Alliance for Educational Options

The Economy, Children & Teachers

The economy we are facing right now is bad for everyone, including our children and teachers. Education will likely face both immediate and delayed cuts in funding. However, it is not the time to panic. Instead we must think clearly, strategically scrutinize the serious problems that face our schools and implement reliable improvement plans.

Basically, the argument comes down to merit pay. By not wasting money on promotions to teachers that are ineffective, school performance will also see significant increases. With less governmental funding available, the completion for this money will rise. Many psychological and business studies have proven the efficiency of rewarding the highest performers and a means to overall improvement. There is also a moral aspect in merit pay reform. Good teachers deserve to be reward! They work hard to ensure that our kids are getting an acceptable education which is good for everyone!

For tons of helpful education information related to teacher pay and retirement check out the interview of John Musso (executive director of the Association of School Business Officials International--former teach and district CFO).

Principal Deserves a Pat on the Back

The principal of Beaumont High School, Travis Brown, deserves a pat on the back. He was so adamant on making sure students showed up to school on the first day that he went to the neighborhoods to inform students and their families that attendance was expected. He knocked on doors of high-absentee students and rode the streets on a fire truck making the announcement over the loudspeaker.

His dedication to education is very inspiring—especially in the face of the failing St. Louis Public Schools! If more individuals had this genuine and passionate concern for the students—making the children the top priority—then these schools can finally begin to turn around. Because improvements in the cities education system are desperately needed now!

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/education/story/C556072BAE6E4E44862574A7000C647E?OpenDocument