'65 Percent solution,' merit pay on DeVos agenda
Republican Dick DeVos promises to
promote the so-called 65 Percent Solution
and merit pay for teachers if he is elected
Michigan’s governor.“As governor, I will set a goal that is
crystal clear: Schools will make sure that
65 percent or more of their funding is
spent in the classroom,” DeVos says.
While the concept sounds laudatory, it’s a deceptive gimmick that removes control of spending from local districts. Local school districts know best how to meet the needs of their students and should keep control of how they spend their money.The 65 Percent Solution is being promoted nationwide by a group called First Class Education, which borrows the definition of “classroom” costs from the federal National Center for Education Statistics and applies it in ways never intended by the center or anyone else.
Under the 65 Percent Solution, spending on football programs, for example, would be allowed, but not for librarians, nurses, counselors, or the buses and bus drivers needed to get kids to school in the first place.
DeVos also proposes merit pay to help Michigan achieve better results in the classroom, even though these plans don’t take into account that a teacher with high achieving students is more likely to get better results than a teacher working with at-risk students.
In reality, merit pay plans reward a handful of teachers, while ignoring the outstanding efforts of the vast majority of educators. The best way to improve student achievement is to attract and retain high-quality teachers for all classrooms at all levels with higher salaries across the board.