Seniority Matters...Everywhere

http://blog.coreknowledge.org/2010/12/01/a-coupla-rich-guys-sitting-around-talking/

In the blog entry called A Coupla Guys Sitting Around Talking, Robert Pondiscio refutes the argument that teachers are the only employees who get raises based on seniority. Pondiscio does not argue that teachers should paid based on seniority, rather suggests that the idea that teachers are the only ones who are paid in this fashion, is incorrect. Across the board, in corporate positions, many employees will receive raises for the mere fact that they have worked another year. How is this different than teacher wages? He points out that the research of many different occupations shows that many jobs pay their employees based on seniority, and in fact give raises annually for really no reason. So, to argue that it is preposterous that teachers are paid by seniority is an unfair argument.

The blog relates to class because we have talked about RTTT, and how teachers are starting to get paid due to results. Many educators are now being judged on their students' test scores, and being paid accordingly. The article finds that this may not be a fair rule. Just because students are not performing well on tests, that does not necessarily mean that teachers are at fault, or that they should be fiscally penalized. As we have discussed in class, there are many different factors that play into low-performance, and who is to say that teachers are at the forefront. Also, if teachers do start performance based pay, as RTTT suggests, what evidence does the government have that this will work? Because according to many other very successful businesses, or even employees of the White House, seniority based pay seems to be working.

I agree with the article. It seems odd to me that teacher are attacked for being paid based on seniority, when most of the world works on this system. In any job, or even many clubs and social settings, people are given more respect and more money for how long they can stay a part of the group. For the government to argue that teachers get paid for showing no results, and that that is different from everyone else, is wrong. I do think that teachers should have more accountability, but I do not agree with performance based pay. I also believe that teachers are unfairly scolded for the current pay system, when many of the scolders should look at their own pay system. Many times, he or she will find, that they too have gotten raises for no reason. I believe that something needs to change for teachers, in order to weed out the teachers who are not doing their job, but just like in any other job, I believe that the "weeding out" should be done through evaluations, rather than the test scores of their students.