I am Rebecca Shinko responding to Bill Applegate's Editorial about merit pay for Cleveland teachers.
It's interesting to me how everyone seems to be jumping on the "merit pay" bandwagon and so few people understand what really goes on in schools today.
I have been a teacher in Cleveland since 2001 and I work diligently to help Cleveland's kids believe in themselves and overcome some very large obstacles. So the state would like 50% of my evaluation to be based on test scores? That means everything I do for the entire year comes down to how a student performs one day out of the year? What sense does that make?
What about teachers who teach physical education or music? How will they be judged? Of course, those questions have not been answered.
The powers that be are very busy talking about accountability for teachers. So do more with less..only this is not a business, we educate children.
Merit pay is not about teacher accountability it's about balancing the state budget on the backs of teachers and other public employees.
I wish it were about the children.
Thank you.
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