Gov. Jon Huntsman wants to give Utah students a better education, but to do that, he says, teachers need higher pay.



Read more...

Daily Herald, since you are now a proven expert on education, what do you propose is the base threshold for teacher pay before Merit Pay or what the business world would call a "bonus" kicks in? Also, how do you determine who is a good or bad teacher with such a wide array of variables that teachers must face.

I think it would also be good to give an incentive for parents to be good parents by giving tax breaks to parents whose children score better on exams, make the honor roll, getting homework finished, attend school regularly, not get into fights, and stay out of trouble with the law. At least insurance companies give good grade discounts, so how about giving a tax cut in the form of a child's performance at school and home.

With financial incentives for parents and teachers, we should have a very well educated populous, but I'm not sure what good it will do. Every adult in Utah could have a Ph.D, but unless they are willing to work for a pittance salary, companies will continue to outsource jobs to foreign countries.

Why does the Daily Herald seem to promote ideas that have failed most places it has been tried. I am actually interested in the idea of merit pay, but my research has turned up a few problems with it. Merit pay has been attempted in many places and the same problem keeps coming up, "What is the best way to qualify a teacher as good?" I noticed DH didn't mention how to do merit pay or how to judge as a teacher as good or bad. That's because there are too many tangibles that go into that mix. If parents are the judges then all kids will be given "A's", if principals are the judges then any teacher that they don't along with will not be good, if the students are the judges then whoever is the easiest will be good, if standard tests are the judge then teachers will only teach to the test or just change students' scores, if politicians are the judges then (in Utah anyway) anyone who is not a mormon republican will be bad. This list could go on forever.

I want to see how Huntsman's idea of merit pay for principals plays out. In theory I guess it puts a lot of pressure on principals to get rid of bad teachers. But how do we determine who is a good principal? I can see most things in my list above would still be part of that issue.

dailyherald wrote:

Gov. Jon Huntsman wants to give Utah students a better education, but to do that, he says, teachers need higher pay.


Read more...

already at nearly 70 percent of the state budget, and now he wants to pay even more. When are those that are using the public school system going to pay their FAIR share of the education budget?! And WHEN are we going to see results for what is currently being paid?

Iceman, Member, Quorum of Heathens and Uppity Wenches wrote:

dailyherald wrote:

Gov. Jon Huntsman wants to give Utah students a better education, but to do that, he says, teachers need higher pay.


Read more...

already at nearly 70 percent of the state budget, and now he wants to pay even more. When are those that are using the public school system going to pay their FAIR share of the education budget?! And WHEN are we going to see results for what is currently being paid?


It could 100% of the budget, and the amount would still be inadequate.

However, fair is as fair does.

Make families pay a surcharge per student of $500 per year to the school district to help make the load fairer on all.

Wren wrote:

Iceman, Member, Quorum of Heathens and Uppity Wenches wrote:

dailyherald wrote:

Gov. Jon Huntsman wants to give Utah students a better education, but to do that, he says, teachers need higher pay.


Read more...

already at nearly 70 percent of the state budget, and now he wants to pay even more. When are those that are using the public school system going to pay their FAIR share of the education budget?! And WHEN are we going to see results for what is currently being paid?


It could 100% of the budget, and the amount would still be inadequate.

However, fair is as fair does.

Make families pay a surcharge per student of $500 per year to the school district to help make the load fairer on all.
0

Or maybe more activist judges! Doesn't this judge look like the kind of weasel the Utah Judicial Conduct Commission should slap silly?

Mom threatened with jail for teaching kids at home
Judge gives Utah woman 1 day to finish enrollment

December 16, 2007
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59229

A homeschooling mom in Utah has been ordered by a judge to enroll her children in a public school district within 24 hours, and have them in class tomorrow, all because of a paperwork glitch that very well could be the fault of the district.
. . .