Attaway, Guv; A meritorious proposal

Editorial

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Friday, January 13, 2006

When Mike Huckabee takes time off from his presidential campaigne to speak directly to the people who elected him, he can still be mighty impressive.  Especially when he takes stands he knows are going to offend powerful interests or go against the popular grain.  For example, in just one talk before a Rotary Club the other day, he let it be known that he was going to ask the Legislature to ban smoking in workplaces (cough, cough) and he also feels that merit pay for teachers is an “absolute must.”  Attaway, Guv. Why offend only one group when you can offend two—smokers and the teachers’ union? Talk about offending a powerful interest, the boss of the teachers’ union in this state, Dan Marzoni, wasted no time letting the governor have it. Which is predictable—the Arkansas Education Association has been opposing just about every progressive reform in education of late from school choice to, yes, merit pay. 

“There’s no merit play plan that can be fair and equitable and open to every teacher,” Mr. Marzoni claims. Yeah, yeah, tell it to the teachers at Meadowcliff in Little Rock or, for that matter, those in Denver who have just helped draw up a merit play plan in that city. Another one is about to be tried in Houston. What’s Arkansas waiting for? Must we always be last? 

Sure, there are lots of details to be worked out in any merit play plan. Why not tie it to how much progress kids are making now that the state has finally decided to start tracking students individually? And don’t teachers who sign on for the toughest schools deserve special recognition, not to say combat pay? 

Tackling such questions is what legislative hearings are for, but the best teachers in the state—like those who met with the governor the other day—tend to be all for merit pay. Certainly the best teachers we know caught on to the AEA’s selfserving agenda long ago. Here’s one thing the teachers’ union has in common with that other group likely to be offended by the governor’s legislative plans: Both can blow a lot of smoke. 

It’s always strange to hear a supposed representative of teachers oppose any plan to award merit. Because teachers do just that every day when they assign grades, discipline students, and generally show a clear understanding of how reward and recognition motivate the best of us—in any vocation. That’s why merit pay, as Mike Huckabee has just said, is an “absolute must.”     It’s time Arkansas joined some of the most forward-looking school systems in the country in adopting such a system—despite those forces, like the AEA, that seem dedicated to holding this state back.