Merit pay for teachers is another problematic example of comparing data from different sources. A teacher with a relatively well-prepared classroom, full of children with parents who are quite focused on ensuring their children excel in school, perhaps with parents who even encourage students to get extra tutoring if they are in trouble, will find it easier to show demonstrable results than teachers trying to educate a difficult classroom of socially and economically deprived students. The teacher from the more affluent district with a merit-based salary does not necessarily boast higher-scoring students as the result of the district pay structure.
Thus, simply looking at the data regarding salaries is not necessarily helpful -- in fact, it can suggest easy causal relationships between improved salaries, merit pay, and other initiatives, with improved grades, when the real cause is far more complex, and may have to do more with the social and economic class of the area, or the culture of the students (such as their parent's commitment to education) rather than the teacher's salary.
This is not to discount some of the value that the Southern Regional Education Board serves. Its website provides important news updates regarding trends in teacher salaries such as in its 2006 Legislative Briefing. However, although it proudly notes that Mississippi, for example, is creating a merit-based pay organizational structure for its teachers, and that numerous states in the region are increasing pay for teachers, little data is included as to how the teacher's pay measured up against other professionals in the area, or if these hikes were addressing much-needed gaps in between...
It merely praises the increase, and looks forward to seeing these increases in salary and merit-based pay translate into higher scores.
Even an organization that apparently reports just the statistical facts does not necessarily lack an agenda. Southern Regional Educational Board, as an organization also has a clear thesis in terms of what it believes should be done with the information it has amassed regarding teacher salaries: "Decisions about pay, rewards and professional opportunities largely will determine whether states develop the dedicated, well-qualified teaching force necessary to raise student achievement consistently. Competitive salary increases along with efforts to address teacher shortages, recognize superior performance and provide incentives for teachers to strengthen their professional skills can go a long way toward attracting and retaining the most qualified teachers" (Gaines, 2000). Whether one agrees or disagrees, the organization should be seen as a lobbying group and not confused with an informational organization that merely exists as a database.
Works Cited
2006 Legislative Briefing." (2006). Southern Regional Education Board. Retrieved 30 Aug 2007 at http://www.sreb.org/main/LegAction/legactions/06S08_2006_Leg_Briefing.pdf
Gaines, Gale. (2000). "Benchmarks 2000. Teacher Salaries and State Priorities for Education Quality." Southern Regional Education Board. Retrieved 30 Aug 2007 at http://www.sreb.org/main/Benchmarks2000/teachersalaries.asp
Southern Regional Education Board. (2007). Official Website. Retrieved 30 Aug 2007 at http://www.sreb.org
