Meritocracy

Those of us who are well into our curmudgeon years probably have to stop and laugh now and then at our growing tendency to deplore the errors of this new crop of whippersnappers.  It is a pleasure, therefore, occasionally to find evidence that a characteristic error of the age is falling out of favor with the Young Turks:
More than 70 percent of [unionized] teachers on the job less than a decade are interested in changing the traditional salary scale, which rewards educators for longevity rather than performance.  Just 41 percent of more veteran teachers back such reforms, according to a national survey last year by the organization Teach Plus.  The poll documented similar gulfs in opinion about revamping teacher evaluations and pensions.
Unions are under intense pressure from falling membership, in the wake of movements to make their dues-paying membership voluntary.  They're finding that they have to consider what their members think.

2 comments:

Gringo said...

From the link:
The national Education Next poll, co-sponsored by Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance, found a startling 31 percent of teachers held negative views of their own unions — up from 17 percent in 2011.

It appears that teachers' unions are facing a double whammy 1) from the public and legislators fed up with rent-seeking unions, and 2) teachers who question the need and the role of unions.

I take the merit pay versus seniority with a grain of salt, given that nearly half of all beginning teachers are out of the profession in five years.

douglas said...

I take the merit pay versus seniority with a grain of salt, given that nearly half of all beginning teachers are out of the profession in five years."

Yeah, and the fact that self-interest will pull some away from merit pay over seniority as they gain seniority after a few years, and possibly enough wisdom to realize that maybe they aren't the new, improved version of teacher, inherently better than the older models...