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Pair Merit Pay, School Choice
Cato Institute ^ | 02/18/2005 | Marie Gryphon

Posted on 02/17/2005 9:50:05 PM PST by libertarianben

It should surprise no one that Gov. Schwarzenegger wants to pay California teachers bashed on job performance. He has firsthand experience with merit pay, having earned millions for muscular box office appeal in his former career.

(Excerpt) Read more at cato.org ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: meritpay; pspl; schoolchoice
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We need to the federal government out of education. Also end the government monopoly, state and local.
1 posted on 02/17/2005 9:50:05 PM PST by libertarianben
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To: libertarianben

We need to get the federal government out of education. Is what I meant to say.


2 posted on 02/17/2005 9:54:16 PM PST by libertarianben (Looking for sanity and his hard to find cousin common sense)
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To: libertarianben

We need to kill the teachers union. They've absolutely ruined the education system in this country. They spend millions to make sure they won't be held accountable. They've spent the last 30 years brainwashing and dumbing down our kids. If we don't stop them now they'll win and rule the whole country.


3 posted on 02/17/2005 10:00:40 PM PST by lotusblos
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To: lotusblos

As long as the government runs the schools it won't matter. Doesn't it scare anyone to know that the government teaches the kids what they think they need to know? How can you fight the government when all you know is what you are taught from them?


4 posted on 02/17/2005 10:08:58 PM PST by libertarianben (Looking for sanity and his hard to find cousin common sense)
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To: libertarianben
...wants to pay California teachers bashed on job performance...

I hope the author meant based on here.

Otherwise, it would seem Ah-nuld was wanting to pay teachers whose performance was found lacking, and that just wouldn't solve a damnable thing.

5 posted on 02/17/2005 10:44:35 PM PST by joedelta (Those who long for peace must prepare for war)
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To: libertarianben
He has firsthand experience with merit pay, having earned millions for muscular box office appeal in his former career.

That's a real stretch for an analogy! LOL


6 posted on 02/17/2005 11:35:29 PM PST by maine-iac7 (."...but you can't fool all of the people all of the time" LINCOLN)
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To: lotusblos
We need to kill the teachers union. They've absolutely ruined the education system in this country. They spend millions to make sure they won't be held accountable. They've spent the last 30 years brainwashing and dumbing down our kids. If we don't stop them now they'll win and rule the whole country.

Right on the nail.

used to be the kids were tested - and those results told whether or not a teacher was effective. If not, they could be let go.

In New Eng. a few years ago, they tested teachers in the fields they were teaching and something like 60% failed!

7 posted on 02/17/2005 11:38:55 PM PST by maine-iac7 (."...but you can't fool all of the people all of the time" LINCOLN)
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To: kenth; CatoRenasci; Marie; PureSolace; Congressman Billybob; P.O.E.; cupcakes; Amelia; Diana; ...

8 posted on 02/18/2005 3:11:36 AM PST by Born Conservative (I need a new tagline. Any suggestions?)
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To: libertarianben
We need to the federal government out of education. Also end the government monopoly, state and local.

1. The federal government got into education in the first place because some local governments weren't doing a good job. Of course, some still aren't.

2. The government doesn't have a monopoly. Where the market will support it, there are private schools. Not everyone can or will pay to educate their children. It was ever thus, which is the reason we have public schools to begin with.

3. If you pair merit pay and school choice, the good teachers and the good students will end up at one set of schools, and the poor teachers and the children with parents who don't care or who can't afford to transport them will end up at another set of schools - in other words, the same problem we have now, writ larger.

That being said, as a teacher I'd love to see merit pay implemented. :-)

9 posted on 02/18/2005 3:22:20 AM PST by Amelia
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To: Amelia

"1. The federal government got into education in the first place because some local governments weren't doing a good job. Of course, some still aren't."

I don't know how you can say "some still aren't", I don't see any evidence that any of our school systems have gotten better in the last thirty years. The teachers union has made it safe for the socialists to deny students their free speech rights, and have enabled them to teach a revised history to our youth. Even in math and science classes our kids are being bombarded with leftist crap instead of being taught subject matter. The American way of life is in danger because of the radical teachers unions and their anti-American and anti-student behaviors.


10 posted on 02/18/2005 6:43:02 AM PST by lotusblos
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To: lotusblos
I don't know how you can say "some still aren't", I don't see any evidence that any of our school systems have gotten better in the last thirty years.

Schools tend to reflect their communities.

Some public schools are quite conservative (including the one where I teach) and some are very liberal.

In some areas, the unions have a huge influence; in some they are virtually non-existant.

Some public schools provide an excellent education, and some don't really provide an education in any sense of the word.

As with housing, it's all LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

11 posted on 02/18/2005 2:39:51 PM PST by Amelia
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To: Amelia
You think the federal government is doing a good job? How many people can afford private schools? Not too many. You pay for the schools if you want to or not. I don't want the government deciding what a child needs to know. Why don't we treat K-12 like we doing higher ed? Just a question.
12 posted on 02/18/2005 3:19:27 PM PST by libertarianben (Looking for sanity and his hard to find cousin common sense)
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To: libertarianben

I want all government out of education or at least to opt out of public schools.


13 posted on 02/18/2005 3:20:49 PM PST by libertarianben (Looking for sanity and his hard to find cousin common sense)
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To: Amelia
"As with housing, it's all LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION."

I live in a very upper middle class neighborhood in the Santa Cruz mountains. When I moved here twenty years ago, the school system was said to be one of the finest. I can tell you that if it's one of the finest, we are in trouble. It not only has incompetent, protected teachers, but it has such a strong union presence that the one really good principal in the system was fired because he tried to document the incompetence of one of the teachers. Today a good teacher in my area is one who knows how to set the clock on the VCR. So I guess most of them are good, they spend so much time showing videos.
14 posted on 02/18/2005 3:31:45 PM PST by lotusblos
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To: libertarianben
You think the federal government is doing a good job?

I don't think I said that. I said schools tend to reflect their community.

How many people can afford private schools? Not too many. You pay for the schools if you want to or not.

I can't afford them. I don't think private schools or homeschooling are options for most Americans.

I don't want the government deciding what a child needs to know.

So far as I know, it doesn't. The states do.

Why don't we treat K-12 like we doing higher ed? Just a question.

I'm not sure if I understand what you mean.

15 posted on 02/18/2005 3:33:22 PM PST by Amelia
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To: Amelia

I was talking about all government: federal, state and local. One of the reasons people can't afford private schools, is because too many taxes are taken out of people's checks. There is no real choice for many people other than government schools. You can choose the college you want to go to but you can't choose the K-12 schools you will go to.


16 posted on 02/18/2005 4:21:37 PM PST by libertarianben (Looking for sanity and his hard to find cousin common sense)
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To: libertarianben
I was talking about all government: federal, state and local.

Well, no matter what school you send your children to, someone is going to decide what they ought to learn. At least at the state & local level, there's the opportunity for citizen input. Your only alternative really is homeschooling, unless you can afford an "issue based" private school.

One of the reasons people can't afford private schools, is because too many taxes are taken out of people's checks. There is no real choice for many people other than government schools.

Of course, the reason public schools were started is that we saw the need for an educated citizenry and so few people could or would pay to educate their children.

You can choose the college you want to go to but you can't choose the K-12 schools you will go to.

In our area, even if you were allowed to choose, there isn't a big variety within a reasonable driving distance. I suppose in big metropolitan areas there might be.

17 posted on 02/18/2005 5:02:00 PM PST by Amelia
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To: Amelia

Why not have tuition tax credits that allow parents to pay for private school tuition with the money that they would otherwise pay in taxes? That would an effective way to create a competitive education marketplace.

The U.S. Constitution does not give Congress authority to collect taxes for, fund, or operate schools. According to the Tenth Amendment, education should be entirely a state and local matter. Nonetheless, the federal government has steadily eroded state and local autonomy in this area over the past 50 years, so that it now takes an active role in almost every issue related to education. Federal guidelines regulate, among other things, student discipline, the content of sex education courses, and the gender of textbook authors. Most of the U.S. Department of Education's programs are not the legitimate affair of the federal government-no matter how brilliant or experienced they may be, politicians and bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. cannot solve problems and improve learning in classrooms thousands of miles away.


18 posted on 02/18/2005 6:17:04 PM PST by libertarianben (Looking for sanity and his hard to find cousin common sense)
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To: libertarianben
Why not have tuition tax credits that allow parents to pay for private school tuition with the money that they would otherwise pay in taxes?

I'm not sure I understand what you want here...would this be a set amount per student no matter how much taxes a parent paid, or would parents get a rebate of property or income taxes up to a certain amount per minor child?

The U.S. Constitution does not give Congress authority to collect taxes for, fund, or operate schools.

The U.S. Constitution does not give Congress authority to do many things they do, IMO, including Medicare and Social Security, which are much more expensive programs.

Nonetheless, the federal government has steadily eroded state and local autonomy in this area over the past 50 years, so that it now takes an active role in almost every issue related to education.

As I say, most of the federal government's role is in response to perceived failures in the local systems.

19 posted on 02/18/2005 7:04:40 PM PST by Amelia
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To: Amelia

The federal government has failed has well. Schools need to be in the free market, so if one school is failing you can take your child out of it and into another.


20 posted on 02/19/2005 3:27:25 AM PST by libertarianben (Looking for sanity and his hard to find cousin common sense)
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