re: #260 SanFranciscoZionist

Merit pay is crap unless it is implemented very, very carefully.

I hear that. Even though I like the idea in absolute terms, I am absolutely uncertain how that could possibly be implemented in a useful manner. A school board in the wrong district might give merit pay to the fellow who bravely put Jesus back in the science classroom.

I am all for making teachers actually be qualified to teach the subjects they are teaching and paying them enough to attract good people. As I keep saying, we also need just a lot more teachers in general, so that the kids get more attention and classes aren’t forced to be taught to the middle by one overworked person.

I am also all for setting up sensible education standards.

Other nations demand that academic track kids learn calculus before going to university - we certainly should too.

Other nations make sure that their kids are conversant in history. We really should too. No American kid should graduate HS without understanding the causes of the Revolution or the causes of the Civil War.

No American kid should graduate without having read Shakespeare, Moby Dick, Huckleberry Finn and about 20 other books that will actually give one cultural literacy.