Speculation on student test scores set off a flurry of activity today at the California Teacher Futures Exchange (CTFE) as traders attempted to forecast teachers' pay in the new merit system advocated by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and passed by the California legislature last week. Shares of Judy Johnson skyrocketed upon reports that her fourth graders were achieving way above average by reading at the fourth grade level. Shares of Steve Thompson, however, plummeted to a 52-week low after it was discovered that he was cooking the books on last year's exam. First grade whistle blower Tina Wilhelm said, "He just gave us the answers. I don't know nobody who didn't cheat. But I can still read good." Tech-oriented futures fell for the third straight day. (Evan Fox, who gave every child a laptop, cell phone, and PDA and promised to "turn this school around 360 degrees," took an especially hard hit). Also, blue chip teachers soared after Teacher of Fortune gave them a strong buy rating, citing their ability "to teach the fundamentals and consistently prepare kids for the next grade." For the month, the CTFE ended up 3.5 percent.
"CTSE reacts to student test score forecasts," by Jeff Hendrickson, CTFE Journal, April 1, 2005.