The Chicago teachers union is asking for a 30-percent raise over the next two years. Most Chicago parents, of course, are forced to send their kids to some of the worst schools in the country, unless they are well connected (like Mayor Rahm Emmanuel) or hit it big in the school lottery. So do the teachers deserve a 30-percent increase? No, more like a 30-percent cut, especially in this economy.
But I’m feeling generous this morning. How about if we give them their 30 percent, and then, at the end of the two years, hold them strictly accountable for a 30-percent increase in results (test scores, graduation rates, etc.)? If they measure up, they can keep the money. If they don’t, taxpayers get to fire them and start over.
Somehow, I don’t think the union will take that deal.
About Stan Guthrie
Stan Guthrie is an editor at large for Christianity Today magazine and for the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview. His latest book is God's Story in 66 Verses. He also is author of All that Jesus Asks: How His Questions Can Teach and Transform Us, Missions in the Third Millennium: 21 Key Trends for the 21st Century, and A Concise Guide to Bible Prophecy. He is co-author of The Sacrament of Evangelism. Besides authoring, writing, and editing books, Stan is a literary agent, bringing together good authors, good books, and good publishers.
Stan writes the monthly Priorities colum for BreakPoint.org. He has appeared on National Public Radio's Tell Me More, WGN's Milt Rosenberg program, and many Christian shows, including The Eric Metaxas Show and Moody Radio's New Day Florida. A licensed minister and an inspirational speaker, he served as moderator for the Christian Book Expo panel discussion, Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does It Make?
