Insenstive Incentives

When I got my first salaried position I felt as though I had been cheated. I am the type of person who shows up early and stays late as a matter of course, and when I used to punch a time clock, I used to end up with a few extra bucks in my paycheck along with the everlasting praise and appreciation of my employers. When I found myself in management, I kept putting in those extra hours as a matter of course. This is what I expect from my employees, after all.
Then I became a teacher and one thing became apparent from the very first day: There was no "quittin' time." Sure, there were plenty of mornings that I arrived just before the custodian unlocked the school, and just as many evenings when I was politely urged toward the door so it could be locked behind me. And there was still work to do. I brought it home. I did it on the weekends. I did it after dinner. I did it after my son went to bed. I have learned, over the course of my career, to set limits that allow me to get things done without doing me in.
Barack Obama wants to create a system of merit pay for teachers. I'm thinking that installing a time clock might be a good first step. But that's not the whole picture. The other thing I left behind when I became a teacher was the idea of bonuses. Just about every job I had before I was a teacher brought me a little something extra right around Christmas. Depending on the job and the times, it was usually just a little monetary pat on the fanny for a job well done. Something in the envelope to go along with the cheesy card.
My President wants to keep AIG from handing its executives one hundred sixty-five million dollars in bonuses after taking billions in federal bailout money. "This isn't just a matter of dollars and cents. It's about our fundamental values," he said. I'm guessing that one hundred and sixty-five million dollars would go a long way to improving test scores in the Oakland Unified School District. In case anyone's asking.