L.A. City News · @lacitynews
28th Sep 2010 from Twitlonger
LA TIMES: Obama renews call to remove underperforming teachers, lengthen school year.
In 'Today' show interview, he also comments that teachers unions are sometimes resistant to change 'when things aren't working.'
Obama endorsed merit pay for teachers and a longer school year.
[Merit pay is an illusion that does not work and makes things much, much worse. More on that later. But if you are going down the "merit pay" route to help improve teacher performance, you are doing more harm than good.]
Obama said, "We now have our kids go to school about a month less than most other advanced countries," the president said. "And that month makes a difference."
[It's not the "about" a month less OUT of the classroom that makes the difference, it's about the other months IN the classroom. Why would you do more of something that doesn't work, before you fix the system for existing months of class, first?]
In the "Today" interview he said that the extra cost of a longer school year would be worth it.
[NOW we are talking. What this is really all about. EXTRA COST, as in EXTRA SPENDING. As in "more job creation/retention." Longer year means extra cost, means extra paycheck and spending to help stimulate (non-private) economy.
Will follow up on why this plan will DECREASE results, not IMPROVE.
Here's the entire LA Times article: http://ow.ly/2KT1z