Hmmm - I had an argument with a teacher recently about how to save a chunk of Texas education funds. It centered around this question:
If Texas teachers are really more concerned about education of the children and the threat of lost jobs, why aren't those receiving teacher performance incentives willing to give up the entire bonus/incentive package to save money for Texas education; basically, put their money where their complaint lies? That would save the Texas educational budget hundreds of millions each year.
She could not answer this simple question-- needless-to-say, she receives a performance incentive bonus.
I'm open for comments on this one---
My clear opinion is that no teacher should receive an incentive bonus for educating children-period. Education, unlike the business world, is not a for-profit business. In the business sector, if I increase the profit margin, I should receive a piece of the pie for helping to build and stabilize the company's business. If my students do well, and can pass the TEKS (or a standardized test that shows them to be competitive across the nation) then that should be considered when it is time for me to be evaluated for a pay increase.
I have had students transfer into my class/our school, from a class where they were "passing" yet they cannot even compete at the required TEKS level for their grade. This causes me to be alarmed---if a benchmark is the answer to a performance...how could this student be passing if they cannot operate at their grade level. Before anyone gets their hair in a snarl...this use to be the exception with student transfers...now it is the norm.
If Texas teachers are really more concerned about education of the children and the threat of lost jobs, why aren't those receiving teacher performance incentives willing to give up the entire bonus/incentive package to save money for Texas education; basically, put their money where their complaint lies? That would save the Texas educational budget hundreds of millions each year.
She could not answer this simple question-- needless-to-say, she receives a performance incentive bonus.
I'm open for comments on this one---
My clear opinion is that no teacher should receive an incentive bonus for educating children-period. Education, unlike the business world, is not a for-profit business. In the business sector, if I increase the profit margin, I should receive a piece of the pie for helping to build and stabilize the company's business. If my students do well, and can pass the TEKS (or a standardized test that shows them to be competitive across the nation) then that should be considered when it is time for me to be evaluated for a pay increase.
I have had students transfer into my class/our school, from a class where they were "passing" yet they cannot even compete at the required TEKS level for their grade. This causes me to be alarmed---if a benchmark is the answer to a performance...how could this student be passing if they cannot operate at their grade level. Before anyone gets their hair in a snarl...this use to be the exception with student transfers...now it is the norm.
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