Comments on: School Staff Turns Down State Bonuses

By: JG Edublog » Motivation 101

JG Edublog » Motivation 101 — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 21:29:11 +0000

[...] interesting stories have come to my attention. Doug Noon’s blog had a story (and some interesting comments) about a school in Alaska that made great gains in [...]

By: Melissa Garner

Melissa Garner — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 23:21:10 +0000

Compare that with the article in our local paper that said _again_ that teachers make too much and proceeded to tell everyone about it. http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070826/ITK/708260336/1016
Although all our salaries are a matter of public record, you’ll find that many of the 65+ comments agree that pointing them out is more harmful than helpful. The author of this article has repeatedly demonstrated antagonism against our school district so this is hardly surprising, just frustrating.

There are so many more things that are more important than money; let’s just hope that we can get that message out with as much discussion as these articles have generated.

By: Doug Noon

Doug Noon — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 05:46:24 +0000

Mary, I’m glad you found me here. I hope you check in again sometime.

John, feel free to do the same.

-thanks

By: Mary Maisch

Mary Maisch — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 02:45:23 +0000

Turning down free money helps our students by a) demonstrating that just because a gift horse is delivered, it isn’t necessarily the best idea to accept it; b) letting them know that test scores are not the reason we teach or they learn; c) teaching them to recognize that nothing comes for free, and that were we to accept that money, all sorts of socially and educationally distasteful strings would be attached (see above comments); and d) providing an opportunity for many of them to consider how lucky they are to live in stable, financially secure, loving home environments which allow them to perform to their best capabilities. It’s true that we could pool that money and purchase some cool stuff for the already fortunate kids at our school, but many of us feel that government money should be spent on leveling the playing field for all kids, which means more money for needier kids, not more money for kids who already have it made.

As an aside, it seems to me that merit pay should go to the kids and their parents as well as or even more so than to the teachers… isn’t the amount of time spent in school by 12th grade something like 11% compared to 89% out of school? Hmmm… who really has the biggest impact on student test performance? But again, although our government is in the habit of rewarding corporations that are already reaping revenues off the charts, I have this nagging belief that instead we should be putting “free” money where it can help kids most in need of it.

This is the end of my little rant here. I have to write to my legislators now.
This is a way cool website, Doug. Isn’t it weird that it took a merit pay bonus for me to find you?

By: A.R. Friesen

A.R. Friesen — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 06:26:10 +0000

John, I may be completely wrong here), but I think the reasoning behind the school’s refusal of the bonus was something along the lines of:

“Yes, we know that we worked hard. Yes, we know that, as a result of our effort, our students did better on these standardised tests. But just because our students did well, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we agree with the state’s decision to implement these tests in the first place, to say nothing of the fact that we as educators are 1) already paid for our work, and 2) are already motivated to work hard.”

This is putting words in their mouths, of course, and if it were me, I’d be ranting for several more paragraphs about the idiocy of standardised testing, but this is my interpretation for why the school refused to pocket the bonus money. Good for them.