The new teacher merit pay proposal won’t have any positive effect. Teacher pay is not the problem nor is it the solution. Have you ever worked for a boss whose motivational style was nothing but threats of firing you if you don’t produce? And who, at the same time, doesn’t properly fund the project, assigns you associates who lack basic skills, and sets amorphous, ever-changing goals? Pretty soon you’re ready to just say, “Fire me, already!”

Quite simply, paying teachers more will not motivate them to be better teachers or encourage good teachers to go to struggling schools. Repeated studies (going all the way back to Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene theory) have shown that, while workers may be dissatisfied by too little pay, they are not particularly motivated by increases in salary. Achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and growth are the top six factors cited as motivational and creating job satisfaction. The new merit pay bill doesn’t address any of these.

Would you encourage your child to pursue a degree and a career where he would be on probation for three years, where one bad review could result not just in the loss of his job but, presumably, the end of his career? Would you be willing to stay in a job where every year there was a one-time, sudden-death test of the employees you supervise, with your job on the line?

Much as teachers would love an increase in salary, how many would willingly leave their suburban, middle class schools to risk their careers on the chance that they can overcome all the disadvantages students face in struggling schools? Just leave behind the schools where parental involvement is high, they don’t experience 50-100% transience rate, kids don’t rely on the free lunch for their only real meal of the day, and where personal safety is not a day to day issue? Ask all the private school teachers why they work for at least 20% less than they could make in the public school system.

And now, we’re not just asking teachers to teach at disadvantaged schools for a $5000 a year bonus but to actually gamble their careers on it. And if we force teachers to go into these conditions, do we then fire them when the students fail to rise to some arbitrary level of advancement? Those who by luck or connections get the better prepared students, the more supportive administration, the more involved community gain a great advantage in both earning merit pay and simply keeping their jobs. Doesn’t sound fair to me.

I’m not saying that there are no bad teachers in the system. Tenure after only 3 years is ridiculous and those who consistently receive poor performance reviews should be shown the door. But we’re looking for some magic bullet to solve the decline of the public education system and using management ideas that are proven losers. Beyond the motivational aspect, a basic tenet of management is that your responsibility must be commensurate with your authority. Republican legislators are trying to make teachers take responsibility far beyond what they have the authority to control. What happens when we weed out all the teachers who can’t teach and our kids still aren’t learning? And, in the process, we lose a whole lot of good teachers and plenty more who would potentially be great teachers.

A system that rewards skilled, experienced teachers through recognition and positive responsibility is going to be more effective than throwing merit pay around based solely on standardized tests. Create a position of “Master” teacher, a successful, motivated teacher who mentors incoming teachers. Encourage collaboration, innovation, and teamwork. Most importantly, find a way to get parents involved. Even the best teacher can’t simply open a child’s head and pour knowledge in. Parents and students need to take responsibility for ensuring a good education. If the teacher isn’t teaching, an involved parent will know. If their child isn’t fulfilling their obligation to learn, that parent will also know.

Nobody becomes a teacher for the pay or because they can’t get another job. They care about their mission and they want acknowledgment that society values their contribution. Instead, we’re demonizing teachers as the primary cause of the failure of the public educational system. It may make us feel good to be “demanding accountability,” but it’s going to be untenable and ineffective.