California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his State of the State address, has declared his intention to promote merit-based pay for Golden State teachers. Though details remain to be filled in, state education secretary Richard Riordan explained to the Los Angeles Times that "individual school districts - in cooperation with their local collective bargaining units - would have to determine how to gauge teachers' performance." Though the idea of linking pay to teacher performance enjoys bipartisan support (attested to in a Times op ed by former IBM CEO Lou Gerstner, who heads the Teaching Commission), the unions are predictably foaming at the mouth. The Times says "Terry Pesta, president of the San Diego Education Association . . . scoffed at the idea of linking pay to performance, saying it would wreak havoc on contracts already in place." Ah yes, an excellent reason to dismiss the plan out of hand - it would interfere with contracts.
"Teachers unions blast governor's merit pay plan," by Cara Mia DiMassa and Joel Rubin, Los Angeles Times, January 10, 2005 (registration required)
"Do the math: Money plus merit equals better teachers," by Louis V. Gerstner Jr., Los Angeles Times, January 7, 2005 (registration required)