Merit pay could divide teachers, Australian report says

Performance pay for teachers could create disharmony between colleagues and damage teaching quality, a federal parliamentary committee in Australia says. The Senate standing committee report Quality of School Education, published September 13, highlights problems associated with rewarding individual teachers and said such a scheme should not be used to substitute real increases in base salaries. “The committee considers that concerns raised about the effect of performance pay on secondary school departmental work teams, which operate on the basis of strong collegiality, are matters that need to be treated seriously,” the report says. Read the article at The Sydney Morning Herald website.