NEA President Reg Weaver must have been flying high without much oxygen when he lauded Southwest Airlines' no-merit-pay policy. "Southwest thrived by sharing ideas," he wrote, "building a strong, unified corporate culture, and--here's a radical notion--encouraging workers to help one another." What's radical is Weaver comparing the rule-bound, change-resistant public education monopoly to an innovative upstart born from deregulation. Sure, Southwest eschews merit pay, but it also pushes its employees to work harder and for less money than other airlines do. And, according to this case study, part of its success is due to the fact that its "unions are not interested in pushing their roles beyond the traditional collective bargaining and grievance functions they perform." Are you willing to take that deal, Mr. Weaver? In the meantime, let's get something straight: charter schools are the Southwests and Jet Blues (and, to be fair, the Independence Airs) of the education industry. Without deregulation and competition, having the Blob mimic Southwest's promising practices will amount to peanuts. Ooops. Pretzels.
"To boost students and teachers, steer clear of merit pay on the road to reform," by Reg Weaver, Christian Science Monitor, November 13, 2006