A few weeks back, Republican Assembly Minority Leader Garn Mabey said at his one and only press conference of this legislative session that instead of rewarding the exceptional teachers in a school with “merit pay,” instead maybe we should give ALL the teachers of a school which shows improvement some kind of equally divided merit reward.
Merit pay to reward teacher excellence has been a bedrock GOP issue position for a long time, so it’s not exactly a surprise that Asm. Mabey wouldn’t embrace it. But to explain why rewarding all teachers - whether they are exceptional or mediocre - is such a dumb idea, consider the following story which has been circulating around the Internet for a few years now. It illustrates the illogic of Mabey’s position better than I ever could…
“A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, and was very much in favor of the redistribution of wealth. She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.
“One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the addition of more government welfare programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school.
“Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn’t even have time for a boyfriend, and didn’t really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.
“Her father listened and then asked, ‘How is you friend Audrey doing?’ She replied, ‘Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She’s always invited to all the parties, and lots of times she doesn’t even show up for classes because she’s too hung over.’
“So her father asked his daughter, ‘Why don’t you go to the Dean’s office and ask him to deduct one point off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA.’
“The daughter, visibly shocked by her father’s suggestion, angrily fired back, ‘That wouldn’t be fair! I’ve worked really hard for my grades! I’ve invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!’
“The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently to his daughter, ‘Welcome to the Republican Party.’”
Would someone please explain this to Garn Mabey.
Posted on April 28th, 2007 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: Nevada
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