TWO WINNERS IN EDUCATION: MERIT PAY AND SCHOOL CHOICE However, merit pay isn’t possible where teachers’ unions rule the roost. In those districts, educators are part of an industrial-style “step and column” salary regimen, receiving raises based on years of service and on completing (often meaningless) professional development classes. Great teachers are worth more—a lot more—and should receive higher pay than their less capable colleagues. Any suggestion to expand merit pay, which would turn teachers into independent professionals, is a red flag for teachers’ unions, which view educators as identical dues-paying automatons.
The recently released scores from the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the nation’s report card, offer little good news. The results show that 2025 test scores remain below 2012 levels for both nine- and 13-year-olds. The only positive is that nine-year-olds made slight gains since the COVID-19-related shutdowns earlier this decade.