Dear Dennis,

Have you ever thought that by building up the profession of teaching you would be building up your individual members as well? You are vehemently opposed to performance pay for teachers based on student performance or evaluation and recently argued against President Obama’s proposal that the government fund a merit pay program, suggesting instead that the money be tied to professional development and focused on “the practice of teaching”.  Wouldn’t a student achievement-based evaluation be an ideal way to reward “the practice of teaching”, as the successful education of a student is exactly that? Why don’t you focus on treating teachers well, as professionals, rather than fighting for systems that will only lead to more failure - of your members, of their students - in the end?

Ed Reformer