Bennett Assails Teacher Guide’s Opposition to Merit Pay

Secretary of Education William J. Bennett said Friday that a new guide to teacher evaluation endorsed by four major education groups is “ridiculous” because it opposes merit pay.

“The national education organizations have once again punted. They have endorsed teacher evaluations, as long as they are all positive and have no effect,” Bennett said.

“What does this mean? This is ridiculous . . . “ Bennett said in a speech to the Fairfax County, Va., Chamber of Commerce. “It’s too bad the educational Establishment continues to stick its head in the sand and hope the education reform movement goes away.”

Fairfax County, the nation’s 10th largest school district, is seeking to give its 7,600 teachers pay raises of nearly 30% over three years, then tie all future raises to evaluations of the teachers’ skills in the classroom.

Bennett praised the local affiliate of the National Education Assn., the Fairfax Education Assn., for its overwhelming endorsement of the $104-million plan, which still must be funded by county officials next spring.

The object of his attack was a guide announced Wednesday by the National Education Assn., the American Assn. of School Administrators, the National Assn. of Elementary School Principals and the National Assn. of Secondary School Principals.

The NEA said it has long favored regular evaluations of veteran teachers--but not if the results are tied to merit pay. Leaders of the other groups expressed ambivalence about merit pay and said it was more important to use evaluations to encourage teachers to hone their skills.

The report, “Teacher Evaluation: Five Keys to Growth,” spells out ways for teachers and their supervisors to reduce the anxiety of the evaluation process and enhance its impact on instruction. It argues that even the best teachers can learn from a professional evaluation. It was prepared by two Portland, Ore., education researchers with funds from Bennett’s own department.

A top NEA officer, Gary D. Watts, called Bennett’s remarks “off the wall” and said Bennett had missed the point of the report.

“Merit pay is not the end-all and be-all of teacher evaluation programs,” said Watts, assistant executive director of the 1.8 million-member union.