An interesting theory

Will money motivate even teachers?

YOU GOTTA hand it to the reporters over at the state Capitol, who have their hands full just in ordinary times, but now with the General Assembly in session . . . . Reporters have to play hockey goalie with the news: Don’t let anything get behind you.

The big news out of the Ledge tends to make the front page, and the big headlines, while everything else may have to settle for a mention in the Legislative summaries elsewhere. And that’s where Senate Bill 366 popped up Friday morning.

It’s an interesting bill, SB366. With an interesting thesis to explore: Will teachers in the public schools actually change the way they work for . . . just more money?

Alan Clark, a state senator from Lonsdale, seems to think so, which may be why he’s listed as a sponsor of the bill. It would let teachers give up their conference/planning periods every day to teach another class. And be paid accordingly.

Teach more students, get a bigger paycheck. As if teachers were human, too, and responded to monetary incentives. How about that? If teachers would work another hour in the day to get a bigger paycheck, would a teacher also work harder or at least more effectively if his students’ standardized test scores—and the rise in them—were reflected in his paycheck?

Just for the record, the answer is: Well, of course.

The next time the head of some teachers’ union tries to tell you that merit pay can’t work where teachers are concerned, here’s hoping someone is kind enough to introduce him, her or it to a real, living, breathing teacher. Said teacher might explain that he has a car note, a mortgage and a grocery bill, too, like so many of the rest of us. Why wouldn’t he want to make more money?

SB366 is now headed to the Arkansas House for a vote. Let’s get it passed into law pronto. Not every good idea introduced during this session may make the front page. But maybe this one should have led the day’s coverage of the Legislature—it’s that good.