GETTING MY MOJO BACK

Kiddie lit is where I want to be, but the educational system just keeps sending fodder for articles that can't be ignored.

In my state teacher merit pay has been a BIG DEAL. Our legislature just passed a law that teacher pay will be linked to test scores.

Personally I am against this because immeasurable amounts of academic learning time is lost with "test prep." Those poor teachers and children are pressured beyond endurance to raise test scores. Our kids are great at sharpening those number two pencils and filling in bubbles. But, does this equip them with the knowledge necessary for college and the working world? Hmmm.

I love the revelry from the politicians and educational administrators. "Woo hoo, we are strong advocates on education. Just watch us -- those bad teachers are going to perform or we will get rid of them." -- A laudable goal, of course, but in my experience I can count on one hand the "bad" teachers I encountered throughout my 25 year career in education. The rest are hard working men and women struggling against all odds to do the very best for their students.

Now comes the ironic moment:

Bang - that is the politicans and educational administrators shooting themselves in the foot.

Yesterday, a group of politicians and high level administrators met with the business community to discuss the reasons young adults graduating from high school are not ready for the demands of college or the business world.

Talk, talk, talk. "We've been talking about this for 10 years, and less than 20 percent of our four-year graduates are getting STEM degrees," states our governor. Ten years of talking. Isn't it time to begin walking the talk?

It gets better: Let's go back to the subject of merit pay. Remember this is the elixir that will solve all educational problems.

My own superintendent stated in this summit, "Accountability is always right, but we should be able to show accountability in more than one way."

The article goes on further with a statement, "Superintendents said relying on the FCAT or other state assessments isn't a accurate depiction of a student's knowledge...even students who do well on the FCAT still may not be considered college-ready when they enter a university."

WHAT! And teacher accountibility is based on FCAT scores. How crazy is that!

I think I may just have another editoral brewing in my mind. Here's to research!!!

Stay tuned.