The Ave: This model of paying K-12 teachers is a game of chicken
More on last night’s Cola meet-and-greet and Q&A with Seattle’s delegation in Olympia.
As Erica reported in her liveblog from the event, a public school teacher in the back row got off a good question about ed reformers like Rep. Reuven Carlyle adding responsibilities to teachers’ workloads, but not increasing pay.
The Ave., a blog about U.W. politics and policy, picked up on the question with the higher-ed perspective.
This model of paying K-12 teachers is a game of chicken. The American public, through its politicians, has come to treat the public schools as a grim necessity .. like the need for a police force to deal with other people’s problems or sewer workers to keep the drains flowing. They, the public, want services for the lowest possible price. They do not want to see the jails or the sewers or the schools.
The unions’ classical answer has been to address pay on a per hour basis and negotiate work rules . Opposition to charter schools and merit pay reflects a