A legislator responds to the addendum(s) added to his teacher pay bill (see my previous post) in today’s Kansas City Star.

“What was substituted out is a plan that requires us to rank teachers and only the top 20 percent are eligible for a bonus. That fosters competition and an every-man-for-themselves atmosphere. You would have teachers trying to get ahead of one another.”

Oh my goodness! Perish the thought that quality should be rewarded!

Why has capitalism been so successful in this country? Because it encourages competition, which fosters an environment of innovation and an incentive structure that aligns supply and demand. Rewarding good teachers ensures that those teachers are driven to constantly improve quality, adopting lesson plans that work and abandoning those that don’t. Under the current system, teachers have little incentive to invest time and effort in improving their curriculum, or tweaking it from year to year to meet student needs, because they won’t be recognized for their efforts.

This is about helping good teachers to earn the higher pay that they deserve. This is about bringing the public school system up to speed with every other facet of the American economy, and aligning incentives with positive results.