Catherwood LibraryILR School

In California, one teachers union's stand against a statewide testing based bonus system similar to those recently condemned in a study commissioned by the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers and other teachers unions (see October 24, 2001 WIT), is causing the very dissension the union had hoped to avoid. The system, which is tied to student performance on the Stanford 9 achievement test, provides for a distribution of bonuses relative to current pay if the school board and teachers union at a winning school have not negotiated an alternative agreement. While most California teachers unions have followed the advice of the California Teachers Association to negotiate the distribution of the bonus money in spite of moral objections to the system, the United Teachers- Los Angeles passed a resolution prohibiting itself from negotiating testing related bonuses---a decision which has led to conflict, as many newer teachers who worked hard to make sure their students passed feel that others are profiting from their hard work.