View of Merit Pay Shifting

It's good to see this shift on merit pay for teachers:

While the words "merit pay" drew hisses and boos at a recent teachers' union convention, educators are endorsing contracts that pay bonuses for boosting students' test scores.
 
The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers oppose linking a teacher's paycheck to how well their students do on tests.  But that is not stopping Rob Weil, the AFT's deputy director of educational issues, from helping local unions hammer out contracts that include new merit-pay plans.
 
"We don't have a message on a board that says, 'Hey, thinking about this?'" he said. But he said the AFT feels obliged to assist chapters that have decided to go that route.
 
Teachers usually are paid according to a century-old career ladder that rewards seniority and levels of education. The system was designed to ensure  fair compensation for women and minorities. The average starting salary today is about $31,000.
 
"They don't make enough money, especially the good ones—especially the  great ones," said Louis Malfaro, the teachers' union president in Austin, Texas, where nine schools are part of a pilot program to overhaul how teachers  are paid.

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View of Merit Pay Shifting
By The Associated Press
<http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/contributors/the%20associated%20.press.html>  
Washington

While the words "merit pay" drew hisses and boos at a recent teachers' union convention, educators are endorsing contracts that pay bonuses for boosting students' test scores.