Mayor Jackson wants merit pay for teachers

Earlier this week Cleveland Mayor Jackson co-authored a letter with Cleveland schools CEO elect Eric Gordon and school board chief Denise Link urging them to put merit-based teacher evaluations back into the state budget. That letter was sent to Governor John Kasich and the heads of the Ohio House and Senate.

And that hurt people like Michele Pomerantz.  “The teachers in Cincinnati and the teachers in Toledo and all of the OFT understand that what happens in Cleveland will permeate throughout the state, so they will join us in our fight against this.”

Pomerantz has been leading the effort to repeal SB 5 for the Ohio Federation of teachers and the Cleveland Teachers Union.  She says the letter surprised and upset her.

“This letter is more than just a mere piece of paper and this relationship was something much stronger 24 hours ago.”

“There are always fair weather friends.”

Mayor Jackson says he stands by the private letter. He wrote it because he believes performance should be taken into account when it comes to giving teachers raises or firing them. He says including merit pay in the budget would give districts a framework in which to develop their own way of evaluating students, often based on test scores, graduation rates, and peer reviews. 

“I don’t believe that anybody should get an automatic raise just because they’ve been there. There should be some evaluation that ties their compensation to their performance and some accountability for that.”

Teachers like Larry Weakland says it’s that sort of rhetoric that makes them feel persecuted. He just got laid off from his job as 2nd grade teacher for the first time after 20 years of teaching in Cleveland. He says his kids and their parents loved him – and a stack of notes and thank you cards affirm that. But he still wouldn’t trust a merit pay system. He says it’s too arbitrary.

“I just don’t see how it can be a fair system and even if I get a fair shake someone else is going to get screwed down the road.”

Weakland’s house is a testament to his years as a teacher, especially his basement.

There are boxes upon boxes of school supplies, a couple desks littered with letters from his students, and several book cases filled from top to bottom with binders.

“All together, there’s about 110 binders, 1-inch binders.

Personalized Thank You Cards for Teachers | Personalized ...

! Between a school supply list that is not only never-ending but expensive as well, hours of complicated homework, endless PTA meetings, countless PB&J lunches thrown together, carpool schedules that make you feel like you’re driving from one end of the Earth to the other and crazy notes from the teacher about your kid’s daily shenanigans, it’s enough to make any sane parent’s head explode! But in hind site, it’s also the beginning of a very exciting season of sleeping in every day of the week, awesome vacations, lazy sun soaked days and slowing life down for a bit.

However, with all those great things comes a few not-so-great aspects. Like, the fact that the kids are home. All day, every day. Under my feet, from sun-up to sundown. Meh.  Suddenly, I’ve gone from ‘Mom’ to ‘Julie’, your full-time cruise director on the Love Boat <insert fake smile here>. My children bat their eyelashes at me each morning and give me a look that says ‘ok woman, entertain us!’ Needless to say, I have to fill every waking moment with activities to keep them amused…and to keep my sense of sanity. For three exhausting months. Three long, excruciatingly everlasting months.

But one of my favorite end-of-school-year chores to do is buying Thank You gifts for my kids’ teachers. After 9 months of putting up with my kids, goodness knows they deserve a gift! I am in awe of their strength, patience and rock-solid steadiness while dealing with childhood neurosis. And the fact that they are able to squeeze in some education at the same time is amazing. Teachers are angels of a different plane, absolute miracle workers and achieve a feat that is beyond comprehension. They deserve to be rewarded!

So this year, I’ll be treating my kids’ teachers to the simple gift of paper. Yes, I know it sounds silly, but to a teacher, each pad of paper is worth its weight in gold. Between the elegant Apple Notes to the more casual Apple Memo Square or Apple Mini List , rest assured that these personalized notes would be utilized to the fullest extent. I feel sorry for the next generation of 3

We’re in the summer. We’re in the summer, traveling along, singing a song, side by side. The kids are at home and ready to play.Every day is a new day for learning fun and self expression. Most people are indeed thankful that their kids did learn something over the course of another school year as well as teaching them something in the process. If you’re like most people you’re thankful that your kids were taught to be responsible. You’ve actually noticed that when they do come home they follow a bit of routine and their horizons have been broadened by subjects and exercises they’ve been introduced to. I think when you realize that when you sit them down to write or read they have a whole new attitude about it. In fact you’d wonder what was the reason for their rhyme. You don’t contemplate it too seriously. You just figure the combination of reading, writing and kids is something that has kept them busy and improving. You’ve thanked the teacher before and would like to extend that gratitude. That’s the perfect reason for the thank you notes you’re sending.

Teachers' Messages for Report Cards

Teacher's guide: companion to Bartholomew's primary-school drawing-cards, For teachers and students using Bartholomew's drawing-card

School & society

Outset: cards & Teachers' notes

The American school board journal