Using data to improve student achievement is one requirement for states to qualify for the Race to the Top funds, the largest sum of discretionary spending in the history of the federal Department of Education.
But using student performance to judge teacher effectiveness is deeply controversial among teachers and their unions. The state legislation would delete language from the California education code, which union officials said served as a firewall between student performance and teacher efficiency.
Tami Carlson, president of the Glendale Teachers Assn., said merit pay would discourage good teachers from tackling difficult assignments. She compared merit pay to a doctor who recommends exercise and stricter dieting to prevent heart attacks.
“If you go home and don’t do that, is it the doctor’s fault?” she said. “Of course not. A teacher can only do so much if the child will not do classwork or homework. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.”
The influential 340,000-member California Teachers Assn. has long been against implementing student data as the only measurement of teacher performance.
“We believe in multiple measures as the way to go,” said David Sanchez, the association’s president. “Race to Top has merit pay in there, which we are absolutely against.”
Linking student performance to teacher compensation may not be required explicitly in the final guidelines, which are scheduled to be released in late fall. But using data as a significant factor in determining teacher effectiveness has been included in preliminary guidelines, union officials said.
