And now for something completely different....

[donkeyjon.livejournal.com]

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Jim Day - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

Comments

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

Merit pay leads to two things: 1) lower performing schools wind up with the worst teachers, perpetuating their low performance (and socio-economic conditions are the single most important factor when looking at school achievement) and 2) kids learning nothing but how to pass a standardised test.

The cartoonist obviously has no idea about how education works.

[donkeyjon.livejournal.com]

While I agree wholeheartedly with point 1, point 2 only occurs if ratings of teaching effectiveness are based solely on test scores. In a proper rating system, peer and administrator ratings of effectiveness, student scores evaluated in relation to peer school norms, and number of extracurricular activities should all play a part.

Now, to do this, first we have to dump No Child Left Behind....