Media mogul Rick Martinez has a plan, and it deserves consideration. He argues,
Instead of continuing to throw big money at teachers, Gov.-Elect Beverly Perdue and the General Assembly should vow to make North Carolina’s probation officers and mental health workers among the most qualified and best-paid in the nation. It would be a better public investment.
I like where Rick’s head is at, but I am not sold on the idea. (Yes, Lefty Cepul, I still believe that “that a teacher is the key to a child doing well at school.”)
We shouldn’t go after teacher salaries unless it means implementing a legitimate student testing program coupled with a comprehensive teacher evaluation and merit/incentive pay initiative.
Instead of teacher salaries, let’s reclaim the money used to maintain massive state and local education bureaucracies. I mean, it takes 14 pages (single space, small font) to list all DPI and State Board of Education employees. And these people definitely don’t do much to increase student performance. Let’s start there.
