AP News, November 19th, 2007
Performance-based merit pay for teachers is a bad idea, Hillary Rodham Clinton told Iowa teachers on Monday. School uniforms for kids, however, is worth looking at.
Merit pay for teachers "could be demeaning and discouraging, and who would decide" who would receive it, she said in a meeting with teachers at Cunningham Elementary. "It would open a whole lot of problems."
Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner nationally, is in a tight race with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards in Iowa. Merit pay is a clear point of disagreement with Obama.
Last summer, Obama told the National Education Association, the country's largest teachers union, that the idea should be considered. Teachers unions typically oppose the idea.
Clinton said Monday she does support incentives for teachers who work in geographic areas and on subjects where there are shortages. And she has said she supports "schoolwide pay for performance programs because I think that the school has to be viewed as a whole unit with everybody working together."
On other topics at the school Monday, she:
_ Denounced violence and profanity on television and in videogames, saying young children should not be allowed to play the games. "If someone came into your house and did and said the things you see on TV, you'd call the police," Clinton said.
_ Said she supports implementing a school uniform policy so students, particularly girls, can focus on school and not peer pressure over what they wear. "Take that off the table and put the focus on school, not on what you're wearing," she said.
_ Told a group of children her favorite activities when she was their age were reading and recess. Her favorite book: "The Nancy Drew mysteries."
_ Said, "I want to be president to help every boy and girl have a better future, have the health care they need and get a good education and live your dreams."
