March 1 - Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools

Star – March 11, 2009Obama favors merit pay for excellent teachersBy JOE ROBERTSONThe Kansas City StarPhoto by Keith MyersAt Central Middle School in Kansas City, Kan., on Tuesday, teacher John Lazzo led his seventh-gradestudents in a review for the state reading test.Seven years in the classroom have given John Lazzo enough experience to see the hard truths about PresidentBarack Obama’s desire to financially reward top teachers.“I personally would love to see it,” said the seventh-grade reading teacher in Kansas City, Kan. “Some teacherswork harder than others.”But …“Who would make the analysis? Every class is different. Every student is different. I don’t know how you wouldimplement it fairly.”More school systems are trying to find a way. And more are expected to after Obama strengthened his callTuesday for reform efforts that he said were critical to make American schools competitive in the globaleconomy.