Posted by Coachh325 on 04/05/09
Last updated 04/05/09

A.S.O.P. stands for "Another Stupid Obamarx Plan".

Can you hear it now? Millions of voices singing the popular White House Rock children's songs. These words will resonate among the masses with classic hits such as "I'm just a stimulus bill", "Indoctrination Junction", "Max Tax Man", "(Only the Fed knows) Where the money goes", "One Ring Governmet" and many more! These are the kinds of lyrics we have to look forward to if Barack Obama is able to implement a plan of Merit Pay for teachers.

At first glance, Baracks teleprompted words evoke strong emotions. Afterall, we live in a society where education has been considered to be falling behind other nations. Our society is fed a steady diet of bad news, and rather than hearing the positive events taking place in schools, we know all about the shortcomings and problems in our education system. Unfortunately, the media also tells us what they want us to think the problems are, and the real issues are often ignored or dismissed. The American public does have a legitimate concern with the quality of education their children are receiving, and Obama knows this. He sees this as an opportunity to invite big government into another part of our lives where it shouldn't be.

 The idea of Merit pay based on performance is attractive to many people on a superficial level. However, when the likely results of this disaster of a plan are closely examined, we can see that it is indeed another stupid obamarx plan.

Merit is an arbitrary concept. With any teacher, there will be some students who thought he or she does an excellent job, and others who feel they are terrible. There are many extraneous variables that factor into those opinions. Children learn in different manners. Some visually, some kinisthetic, some do better with reading, and yet others are more likely to learn with lessons that cater to those who are auditory learners. Teachers have different classroom communities, and each one is unique. They do not have the ability to go out across the country and recruit the brightest and best minds. They are forced to work with what they have. Like any thing else in life, success does not always mean the best record or statistics. Americans love the story of the underdog who triumphs over adversity. There are coaches and managers in sports who work with less than ideal conditions compared to others who may not have the same statistics as others in their line of work, but are regarded by many as superior talent in the field.

In order for the government to determine what merits deserve the pay, they would have to set a standard. This automatically means standardized tests. Although Obama has promised the Teachers Unions that this would not be the route he went, he offered no alternative to determine the pay. Considering that the President has already broken many of his campaign promises to those who blindly voted him in on the fairy tales he was presenting, the teachers understand that standardized tests will be the handcuffs that bind them. Preident Obama told us"I want to work with teachers. I'm not going to do it too you, I'm going to do it with you."

Well Mr. Obama, I don't want you doing it to us nor do I want you doing it with us. As Dr. Ron Paul has said, "if you get in bed with big government, expect to get the diseases it spreads". An illegal and unconstitutional standardized testing program is on the horizon. It would be the biggest disaster our education system has ever endured.

Think for a moment about your favorite teachers who had the biggest impact on your life. Was the first thing that came to mind how well you did on tests? Or was it the teaching style, passion for education, and creative ways that lessons were taught that compelled you to consider them the best? A federal standardized test would take those important attributes of a teacher and throw them out the window. The intangibles and life lessons won't put food on the plates and clothes on the backs for teachers families. Teaching students to memorize facts to pass a test will be the cash cow.

What will be the content of the federal tests, and who will determine what the content? Of course, a government agency will have to handle this part of the plan. As Obama has already taught us, the government needs to take care of everything, and the private sector has no ability to run their own lives. This sets up unprecedented opportunity for government to indoctrinate children to conform to their revisionist ideas. Those in power will be able to stay in power at the expense of the masses. It breeds a disgusting and never ending cycle that stifles personal growth. All of this would be paid for with our tax dollars.

Much like FDR's failed government programs in the 1930's  laid the foundation for the problems that politics have caused in the private sector today, this program sets the table for even more fodder for the ugly politics that are present in education. Teachers who are willing to teach to the content of the Federal test and gain political favor will be rewarded with a class full of students who do very well on standardized tests. The other students will be given to those teachers who are new or unwilling to give up real teaching for the brand that is inevitable to come from the loins of merit pay. Thus making it impossible for certain groups of teachers to advance, regardless of how good of a teacher they are. This will lead to a shortage of teachers, closing of schools, and students who have no incentive to learn or take school seriously.

But wait, we can home school, right? Not so fast. If a federal standard test is put in place, home schoolers would also have to be able to pass those exams to get into higher education. That is tough to do if you are also spending time to teach your home school students morals, ethics, real history, the Constitution as it was intended, and life skills. Merit pay would essentially take the option of home schooling off the board for most Americans.

This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the shortcomings and slippery slope of lost liberties that merit pay for teachers presents. As history has proved time and time again, any government program created causes many more problems and rarely solves the one it was intended to solve in the first place.

Say no to Merit pay for teachers. It is just another one of A.S.O.P.'s fables.