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Obama's Education Policy

March 13, 2009 10:54 AM

Bob Schieffer is joined by Russ Whitehurst, the director of education policy at Brookings Institute and Politico.com's Jonathan Martin to talk about the politics behind Obama's education policy.

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by Mr_Pragmatic March 26, 2009 8:02 PM EDT
Merit pay is condescending at best and unethical at worst. It assumes that the teacher is the biggest factor in student achievement.

What about the parents? Let's not underestimate the role they play. Show me a failing student and I'll show you a failing parent.

Why do you think Catholic School have had far more success with student achievement - and with less money - when compared to the public schools? A large part of that success is because of parental involvement. Not to mention that they teach social mores and ethical behavior - something that is more often than not neglected in the public education system.

How will we ensure that merit pay is fair? Won't teachers emigrate to the more affluent communities where achievement scores are higher? Research studies show that the more affluent a community the more parent involvement there's likely to be and the higher the test scores.

Will we force teachers to teach to the test? What about teaching those things that cannot be scored on a test? What about character development?

You need to have a university degree for most jobs, i.e., teacher, lawyer, doctor. In addition, you often have to be licensed, meeting state and federal standards. But you don't need a degree or a license for the most important job in the world: being a parent.
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by JackGarvey March 15, 2009 1:19 PM EDT
The implementation of merit pay for teachers would be difficult. Would teachers teach the test, instead of teaching how to think? Students must be taught how to solve problems that they are confronted with. Using association to strengthen memory is important. No, I don't know the steps, but I will learn and use them as my child matures.
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