Featured Article
Teacher Merit Pay in Ohio
By Matthew Carr and Marc Holley
Ohio policymakers have been working endlessly to improve the state's education system through a variety of reforms, but so far, none have been particularly effective. Since research shows that having good teachers is one of the most important factors for student achievement, Ohio should focus reform efforts on ways to improve teacher quality.To address the problems of recruiting exceptional new teachers, retaining the most successful ones, and improving the current teaching workforce, merit pay systems are emerging in Ohio and other states.
This policy brief outlines the issues surrounding merit pay, summarizes the available research, and provides a prototype merit pay plan that can be implemented in districts across the state.
Buckeye Voices
In
this week's Buckeye
Voices, Buckeye Institute Education Policy Director Matthew
Carr discusses his awarding winning study supporting teacher merit pay
in Ohio. Carr recommends introducing merit pay as a bonus system with
in the existing teacher pay structure.
Equity in School Funding
The
Mansfield News-Journal editorializes,
"Over-reliance on local property taxes to fund public education creates
tremendous inequalities around Ohio from one district to the next. It
forces every school district and superintendent to constantly spend
time and effort gearing up and running school levy campaigns instead of
focusing on education. It cheats the young people of our state of the
best possible education we can provide."
In
Facts about School
Finance in Ohio, Buckeye Institute Director of
Education Policy Matt Carr
writes, "Equity, the ideal of providing more resources for
disadvantaged students, is high and continues to increase. School
districts with more than half of their student population labeled as
disadvantaged spent, on average, roughly $1,500 more per pupil than
districts with lower levels of disadvantaged students. In fact, of the
10 highest spending districts, not counting the islands, two are high
poverty, inner city school systems -- Dayton and Youngstown. The
average spending per pupil in the big eight city school systems is
close to $12,000 per pupil, significantly higher than the state average
of $8,750."
Abusing Anti-Trust Laws
"Legislators are continuing to work with the U.S. Department of Justice on the antitrust issues. Turner said last week the Ohio delegation in Washington, D.C., filed a complaint with the department and expressed concern about the effect of a potential agreement between UPS and DHL Worldwide Express on the U.S. shipping market and on the local economies," according to the Wilmington News Journal.
In Suing our Way to Prosperity, Buckeye Institute Senior Fellow Sam Staley writes, "By making litigation a central part of economic development policy, the state is putting all businesses on notice. There's a new economic sheriff in town, and Ohio businesses better toe the state's economic line - or else. If Ohio businesses don't play according to the state government's rule book, real or perceived, they can expect its attorneys and public officials to play hard ball."
The Politics of Energy
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, "Congress began its annual August recess on Friday without having enacted any substantive responses to public outcries over high gasoline and other energy costs."
In
The Energy Quagmire,
Buckeye Institute Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow Ken Blackwell
writes, "We need to find more domestic oil and get it. We need more
refining. And we need to aggressively expand alternative energy while
we build dozens of next-generation nuclear reactors. Finally, we need
to create new models of cars that use no petroleum fuels at all. We
need to do all these things starting now. Energy is a major issue, and
could decide this fall's presidential election."
Buckeye Institute in the News
The Zanesville Times Recorder published Marc Kilmer's letter to the editor on the payday lending referendum.
The Hillsboro Times Gazette published David Kirkpatrick's article on education.
