"Transformation of Chicago schools could be model for US; Obama pick takes that experience with him to capital" By Maria Glod, Washington Post | January 4, 2009
CHICAGO - At Cameron Elementary School west of downtown, most children don't know the alphabet when they start kindergarten, nearly all are poor, and one was jumped by a gang recently, just off campus. But the school this year posted its highest reading and math scores ever - a feat that earned cash bonuses for teachers, administrators, even janitors.
Arne Duncan, chief executive of city schools and President-elect Barack Obama's choice for education secretary, pushed that performance-pay plan and a host of other innovations to transform a school system once regarded as one of the country's worst. As Duncan heads to Washington, D.C., the lessons of Chicago could provide a model for fixing America's schools....
I'm sorry, readers, but it smells to much like a BRIBE to me!
Kids and teachers should be learning and teaching because they WANT TO, not because someone is cutting them a check!
That's not to say teachers shouldn't be paid well; however, as in anything, people have to WANT to do the job. Money only goes so far.
*******************
Officials are also offering some students cash for good grades and seeking proposals for boarding schools. In addition, Duncan backed a plan to start a gay-friendly high school.
Now if THAT isn't AGENDA-PUSHING, please, tell me what is!
For the most part, the changes were made with little organized opposition, except for some skirmishes with the teachers union.
Of course not; everyone is afraid to run up against the Zionist beast of culture hollering foul.
Duncan, a longtime Obama friend and basketball buddy, helped shape the incoming administration's education platform. As education secretary, he will be Obama's point man for carrying out the No Child Left Behind law and negotiating revisions with Congress. Through regulatory power, federal funding, and a pulpit he can bring to classrooms nationwide, Duncan will be able to push for changes in schools....
That's not going to help him with me.
Cameron Elementary is using powerful tools to jolt teaching and boost achievement: money, coaching, and collaboration. With the approval of teachers, the school last year began a performance-pay pilot program now in place at a score of city schools. Much of the money for the program has come from a federal grant and private foundations.
Teachers earn extra cash for taking on additional responsibilities and are judged in a series of evaluations.
Well, they SHOULD GET PAID for doing extra work.
Entire staffs get bonuses when state test scores rise. Slightly more than 50 percent of students passed the latest state reading exam, but the trend is up. The gains meant about a $1,000 bonus for most teachers, about $250 for janitors, and $625 for the principal.
Wouldn't that money be better spent IMPROVING the PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT of the school and being spent on the KIDS instead?
I mean, isn't that what this is all supposed to be about? The kids?
--more--"
Hey, it is all YOUR TAX MONEY, America, and if you don't care, why should I?
