People, good people, get tired of me griping about the evils that abound in the public educational system.  Sometimes I let those people get to me and I'm quiet...but then I realize, this isn't about me.  It isn't just about MY job, or MY pay, or MY working conditions.  It's magnified by the fact that I live in this world every day, but it's not really what it's about.

It's about kids.  It's about the next generation.  It's about our future.

So.

I refuse to be quiet.

I was reading an article (you can read it here) that was essentially advertising a book about the common myths that circulate about education. (the book can be found here).

All of them hit home...but these two really hit home in light of recent elections and the fact that we have an anti-funding, anti-teacher candidate about to take the office of the highest educational post in the state of Arizona.  Scary.

Myth #6: Money Doesn’t Matter

It's a popular argument that, while we're spending more money than ever, test scores remain stagnant. This is a destructive myth widely shared by those who oppose better funding of our schools. Yet the research is clear.When school districts with sufficient resources are compared with those without, achievement outcomes are definitively higher in the wealthier districts. The authors note that it makes a significant difference in terms of student achievement when higher salaries are used to attract more experienced and better-educated teachers. Schools that serve the poor are more likely to retain well-paid teachers, despite the challenging circumstances they deal with each day. Since class size does matter, as we've seen, adequate funding makes it possible to hire more teachers and reduce class sizes. All of these assertions are strongly supported by research. Additionally, the authors cite Linda Darling-Hammond's report on new research from Finland, Singapore, and other countries that provides "striking evidence that spending more, and targeting that spending at students who come to school with the fewest resources, can have a dramatic positive impact on a nation's overall educational outcomes."

Of course, it is also possible that the school districts spending more money are located in communities in which socioeconomic factors and neighborhood quality play an important role.

While my friends and I have jokingly (or maybe not so jokingly) said that we could teach with sticks in the mud if we had to, that doesn't mean that it would be what was best for children.  Retaining good teachers, through equitable pay and decent working conditions, and having smaller class sizes are KEY to education.  KEY.  Let me say that again.  Smaller class sizes are KEY.  My students will even tell you that when half the class is gone they learn SO MUCH MORE.  KEY. 

Myth #8: Merit Pay for Teachers Improves Student Performance

The full argument is that merit pay is a good way to increase teacher performance, because teachers should be evaluated on the basis of student performance, and rewarding or punishing schools for student performance will improve our nation's schools. However, evidence suggests that competition between teachers is counterproductive and interferes with collaboration. Measuring teacher effectiveness is very difficult, and no simple measures effectively do this. There is no evidence that merit pay correlates with improved student achievement, but there is strong evidence that basing teacher salaries on student performance is counterproductive and ethically wrong -- it frequently punishes teachers and schools for socioeconomic factors over which they have no control.

I do not know a single teacher, not a SINGLE one who teaches better in order to get their merit pay.  What I do see is teachers that are so BOGGED DOWN with PAPERWORK jumping through hoops to get their merit pay (or simply to not lose their jobs because admin requires it) that they don't have time to lesson plan, grade or....gasp....wait for it....TEACH!!  It is absolutely and utterly ridiculous to think that dangling a carrot in front of the noses of a group of people who, since the profession has been notoriously underpaid in America, didn't go into the job for the money but because they felt called to help children learn and grow, would do anything for money that took away from the mission of serving kids.  All merit pay has done is increase the workload (again not related directly to teaching but more paperwork and hoop jumping) and frustration levels of teachers.  HOW is that good for children in any way?  

Please, if you care about children, if you care about our future, if you want to have a free and appropriate public education system around for your children or your grandchildren, or maybe just children in general, take a great deal of care when voting and supporting policy decisions because this, folks, is not the right answer.  The system we currently have is not good for children.  It is not good for teachers.  If your children are getting a good education, it is in SPITE of current policies, not because of them.