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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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Obama to Push Merit Pay for Teachers in Schools Plan

Prez to push teacher merit pay, lower dropout rates

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(Newser) – In a speech today before the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, President Obama will lay out his plan for American schools, reports the Wall Street Journal. Most controversially, the president aims to expand merit pay for teachers, a measure that Democratic teacher unions are traditionally leery of. If teachers develop new skills, he said last summer, “that work can be valued and rewarded.”

The president will emphasize teacher performance more generally, including recruitment, mentoring, and “new processes to remove ineffective teachers.” He’s pushing for more charter schools, and challenging states to cut dropout rates. In his recent speech to Congress, Obama declared that high-school dropouts fail their country, not just themselves. And for kids who make it to college, Obama wants Pell grants to be in easier reach.

Amanda Cedeno, left to right, Kayla Richardson and Antoinette Wicks eat breakfast at their school desks during homeroom at Lorain Southview High School on Friday, Jan. 23, 2009, in Lorain, Ohio.
Amanda Cedeno, left to right, Kayla Richardson and Antoinette Wicks eat breakfast at their school desks during homeroom at Lorain Southview High School on Friday, Jan. 23, 2009, in Lorain, Ohio.   (AP Photo/David Richard)
Seventh grader from Hutchins at McMichael School, Dezmond Norman shows his support for President Obama while awaiting the inauguration, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2008 in Detroit.
Seventh grader from Hutchins at McMichael School, Dezmond Norman shows his support for President Obama while awaiting the inauguration, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2008 in Detroit.   (AP Photo/Jerry S. Mendoza)
Barack Obama teaching at the University of Chicago Law School.
Barack Obama teaching at the University of Chicago Law School.   (AP Photo/Obama for America, File)
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professortech
Mar 10, 09 7:56 AM CDT
My biggest problem with merit pay is for all ofthose teachers whose subject areas are not considered among the "essential" subjects i.e. the arts, special education, social sciences etc. These subject areas are not within theframeworks of most state testing programs andtherefore the improvement of student's abilitites are not diretly tied to those teachers performance. This create a two-tiered framework of teacher's subject that matter and those that do not. Hoppefully everyone understands that the measure of a civilization can not be held to it's number of mathemeticians but also it's understanding of the humaniities, the arts, etc. Reply
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riffran
Mar 10, 09 6:26 PM CDT
Not a bad idea....in theory....turn out a good product get good pay.....the problem is that there are too many variables.......example...great teacher...with troubled students...some of those inner city schools are a teachers nightmare, drugs, drop outs, violence ect...so to get "paid" the teacher would have to leave?? and go to a better area?....So what happens to the students?....and the variable could go on.......but still a good idea if it can deal with those issues fairly Reply
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radnip
Mar 11, 09 4:50 AM CDT
Oh my god, merit again. So anti-American. Inheritance and legacy are what we're much more used to! Reply
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