Unmerited Teachers

(National Review Online)  This column was written by Mark Hemingway

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A New York Times op-ed earlier this week highlighted the sad plight of America's teachers. Co-authored by Nínive Calegari, Daniel Moulthrop, and of all people, literary hipster Dave Eggers, the op-ed was called "Reading, Writing and Retailing." It attempted to draw attention to the not-so-new phenomenon of teachers working second jobs in the summer, as if this were somewhat undignified.

"In your community, you might spot your son's Advanced Placement biology teacher working in the summer as a travel agent. Or perhaps your daughter's English teacher is painting the house down the street. Not counting those who teach summer school, about 20 percent of the country's teachers have second jobs (often during the school year, too), and the majority of those jobs could not be construed as enhancing universal respect for those who teach."

Nevermind why a teacher working another job during the summer is considered disrespectful, or that according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics public-school teachers earn more per hour than the average white-collar professional. (Or way more. In New York, you can be at the top of the pay scale and work only 28 hours a week, and it's against the teachers' contract to work during the summer anyway.) To the extent that underpaid teachers are a problem, it is for one reason and one reason only: teachers unions.

If teachers unions care about increasing pay for teachers, the solution would be simple. It's called "merit pay," or as it's known in every other employment arena in the country, How The World Works. Unlike all jobs outside of government, if you're a teacher, how good you are at your job is no indicator of how much money you'll make.

This is because unions insist on uniform pay for all teachers regardless of ability. Teaching is not an assembly line where workers come in shifts and are interchangeable. It is a highly specialized profession that requires tremendous adaptability. And more than that, it is far too important a job to pretend that educators are all equal.

And teachers being underpaid is just one part of the struggle they face, according to the authors. According to provisions in the No Child Left Behind Act, teachers must be monitored for competence. The horror! Jorge Izquierdo, a New York City principal, is one of the few education professionals willing to speak out on the issue, put it this way: "I am like the CEO of a little corporation. I am judged by whether or not I achieve the equivalent of a profit -- how much the children gain in learning. But unlike any other CEO, I can't hire the people who work here or fire them when they're incompetent."

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