Why I turned down a $5,000 bonus

The success of his students was the work of many hands so his conscience wouldn’t let him accept extra money.

As I walked into the office on my way to take part in collective bargaining, the HR director pulled me aside: “We have a contract for you to sign. Then we can get you your check!” she said.

“Check for what?” I asked.

“It says here you’ve been approved for a $5,000 AP stipend.” She handed me a letter from the New Mexico Public Education Department. “All we need is for you to sign the contract so we can get you the check.” She shrugged at my bewilderment and said, “Pennies from heaven!”

For a moment, dollar bills danced before my eyes. I thought of my wife, who jokes that she never has money for shoes.

And yet … something felt off. I asked if I could make some calls.

“OK,” she said. “But we need this paperwork finalized ASAP.”

What I learned confirmed my doubts. The bonus was part of Gov. Susana Martinez’s education reform initiative. It pays incentives to up to 300 AP teachers who increase the number of students who pass AP tests. Merit pay. The state was using student test scores to award me a stipend.

Data from 2012 qualified me to receive the bonus because the percentage of students in my AP literature class who earned a score of 3 or above increased from the prior year. My 2012 AP bunch had been an exceptional group. It was a good year for me as well. I was on top of things, organized, enthusiastic.

However, I had to acknowledge one fact: I was not the only person who contributed to their success. They had excellent junior, sophomore, and freshman English teachers. Before that, their middle school teachers and elementary school teachers laid the foundation.

Their parents taught them to value education and diligence, and modeled the literate dinner table talk that leads to deep appreciation of literature.

I’d be remiss to omit the counselors, custodians, coaches, nurses, librarians, secretaries, cooks, security guards, educational assistants, and, yes, even administrators, all of whom buttressed their success in some way.

And, of course, the students themselves, in spite of my questionable competence, managed to learn a few things.

My point is obvious: Education is collaborative and incremental. It requires vertical alignment, coordination, good leadership — and students who care to reciprocate. The success of these students was the work of many hands. Yet I was singled out for the bonus. To accept the money would be to accept the pretense that I was the sole source of their success. It would also grant tacit approval to the governor’s merit pay initiative.

Consequently, I could not, in good conscience, accept the bonus . . . shoes or no shoes.

The Martinez administration claims that the goal of this policy is to increase enrollment in AP classes, particularly among minorities. However, it seems likely that it will have the opposite effect. Tempting beleaguered and underpaid teachers with a bonus if their students pass AP tests will encourage them to be more selective with regard to whom they allow into their classes.

New Mexico’s Public Education Department plans to generate lists of students who do well on the Preliminary SAT as a means of recommending students for AP classes but doing so will have a chilling effect on AP enrollment: Honest and hard-working students who test poorly but who thrive when given the opportunity to challenge themselves will be left out.

The College Board, which owns the Advanced Placement Program, opposes such gatekeeping. Now it appears that New Mexico teachers, armed with lists of students who measure up, will have a $5,000 incentive to leave the rest behind.

Despite persistent nationwide opposition, merit pay initiatives are alive and well. They are supported by the College Board, which has chipped in $1 million for “teacher preparation and recruitment” and “training counselors on how to guide students toward AP.” Merit pay is part of President Obama’s education platform.

It is my opinion that we must oppose such initiatives vigorously.

Merit pay is inequitable and divisive. It encourages teachers to emphasize tested material over other content. It often comes in lieu of real wage increases. It encourages teachers to place their own interests ahead of their students’ interests.

It is anathema to our professional dignity.

CITATION: Hahn, F. (2014). BACKTALK: Why I turned down a $5,000 bonus. Phi Delta Kappan, 96 (3), 80.