At one time, I would have been pretty adamant about merit pay. I mellowed a lot on this issue when I understood how difficult it is to accurately measure teacher effectiveness.
I said a lot of things about the school systems and teachers before I was one. It’s easy to criticize (and the public system has certainly opened themselves up for it) but if anyone really wanted to improve things, that is give us kids with real educations that can lead to good jobs and careers (and better understanding of civics) they would see that there are a number of things that need to be dealt with, not the least of which is the politicians using the schools to advance their agendas and parents who see them as free baby sitting services.
However, I don’t expect that to happen, and having been there and done that, I applaud most people who can go every day and be there and maybe make a difference. And ALL conservatives should stop slapping conservative teachers in the face. THEY are the ones who have the potential to change things.