Teachers' salaries should be based on their students' academic performance.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling r

The central assumption of this argument is that students’ performance would improve if teachers salaries depend on how well their students perfom. However, this claim is flawed because other factors are responsible for student success, it disincentivizes students from being responsible for their education and teachers may focus on academic success rather than imparting skills.

It would be unfair to base teachers’ on their students’s success because there are other factors that contribute significantly to academic performance. For instance, family environment and parent involvement affect student performance. If a student faces challenges at home, it may be impossible for the teacher to do much at school. Thus, it is unreasonable to evaluate a teacher on that student’s performance especially if the number of such students are large in a class. Similarly in places where students do not speak English as a first language, early years of education may be difficult as they are just adjusting to a new system and performance may be low. In this case also, holding the teacher responsible is unreasonable.

Another reason why teachers salaries should not be based on students’ academic performance is that it leaves teachers at the mercy of their students. For instance, if a particular teacher is not well-liked, student may sabotage her and perform poorly just to punish the teacher. New York City offers an example of the demerits of giving students power over teachers with the “Rubber room” cases. Thus this position would be detrimental to teachers and students.

Also, basing salaries on student success disincentivizes teachers from giving their best. Teaching is not a financially lucrative career and most people who teach probably do because they love to impart knowledge. However, if there income is in danger and unstable, they may resort to dishonest means to achieve high academic performance. At the end teachers, students and the society lose.This is because the students do not learn the skills they should but are prepared to pass examinations thereby producing half-baked graduates for the society’s labor markets. The scandals that have resulted from standardized testing as a determinant of funding also prove why this position is flawed. Stories have emerged on how schools help their students cheat just to pass examinations.

Nevertheless, the underlying assumption of the above claim is reasonable and a position such as basing teacher bonuses on performance may work rather than teacher salaries.

In conclusion, though the premise of this position is sound, such a position is detrimental because teachers are not solely responsible for academic performance, students may sabotage teacher and this would also discourage teachers from pursuing the true goals of education.