To the Editor:

Regarding the plan to give some teaches a pay raise: I cannot for the life of me see anything wrong with this plan. Good teachers get a raise and the others are encouraged to do better. Teachers should not get a raise just because they are teachers.

I'm a third shift factory worker. Every year we get a review, and only the best workers get a raise. Like the state, the company has a limited amount of money available. Other workers are encouraged to do better. Some may be let go and encouraged to do something else for a living. 

Yes it is possible that I may have upset the plant manager in some way, and he won't give me a raise no matter what my job performance. It is not a perfect world. This is a problem that everybody in the world faces … except teachers. 

But the solution to this is not to give everybody a raise and guarantee a job through tenure. Doing this would soon put the company out of business. With teachers, we can try to prevent this through more openness and parent involvement in the evaluation process. If an obviously great teacher is not offered a raise, we know there is something wrong.

There is no reason why teachers can't live by the same rules as everybody else. Good workers get a raise. Others are encouraged to do better, or do something else. And no one is guaranteed a job.

Larry Rhodarmer

Candler