Merit Pay for Teachers

As a veteran public schoolteacher (soon to celebrate 30 years in the field) and one who considers herself excellent (though no less or more so than a great number of my colleagues), please ask Gov. Wilson how he proposes to measure my “excellence” in terms of student test performance.

My students do not take achievement tests. They are 3- to 10-year-olds who are mentally and physically handicapped. They don’t speak, read or write, and, in most cases, they aren’t ambulatory. Yet, if Wilson’s proposal passes, I, too, would want to be considered for merit pay. Or will our governor propose to reward only those “excellent” teachers who teach regular education students?

CECILE E. MAURICE, Seal Beach