N.J. teachers' merit pay and pensions; Rude Turnpike toll collectors; Why do we need subsidized health insurance?


webschools.jpgTeachers are increasingly using blogs, Twitter, wikis, podcasting and video conferences with students, including Isabel Livingston, 11. Merit can be measured

From the responses to the opinion piece by Kevin Manahan ("Good teachers should speak up for merit pay," Feb. 21), it’s clear some teachers need an education in merit pay.

As a compensation professional, I can tell you that most organizations in private industry utilize merit pay. Plans are designed with the nature of the business in mind. Many teachers complain there is no way to place a value on their jobs, that manufacturing can’t be compared to education, or that improper measures (e.g., test scores) will be used. I assure you that educator performance can be measured just like it is in other occupations. Even the health industry employs some form of merit pay. Hospitals design these programs to measure of a hospital’s success. I’m sure the critics of merit pay would agree that one can’t put a value on saving another’s life. Yet somehow, hospitals are able to use merit-pay programs to distinguish and reward their employees and, as a result, run a better organization. If they can do it, I think education can, too.

I understand why teachers want to hold on to what they have. The problem is, our economy can no longer afford it.

Nancy Romanyshyn, Verona

Figure out a rubric

I assume the recently published letters against merit pay for teachers were written by teachers. I understand their concerns regarding a metric to measure teacher performance. There are many factors outside of a teacher’s control, especially what students due outside of the classroom, that can affect a teacher’s evaluation. Fair enough.

However, factors outside of the noneducation-system employees control can impact their performance, yet they somehow have figured out how to manage that reality and develop a reasonable system to measure job performance fairly. It would seem to me that educators should be smart enough to develop a reasonable and fair job-performance guide for their industry. So I find it interesting that educators appear to have simply thrown up their hands and said that it cannot be done. Consequently, students and parents have to suffer the incompetence of some teachers, and are told that there’s really nothing that can be done about it.

Should politicians or noneducators develop arbitrary metrics? Certainly not. This should be done by those most experienced in what constitutes good teacher performance. So educators, how about offering some ideas as to how this can be done fairly, instead of simply dismissing the idea as you would your students at the end of the school day?

Peter Sibilski, Mountainside

Get out of pension business

State Sen. Barbara Buono and CWA union boss Rae Roeder have engaged in a written dispute over public employees pensions. Buono is correct when she said that the current defined benefit pension plans are "unsustainable." Roeder is also correct when she states that private-sector employers are required by law to fund corporate pension plans. Few private sector employers continue to offer defined benefit, instead switching to defined contribution plans 401(k).

Roeder and Buono should be talking about the state’s alternate benefit program, a 401(k)-type retirement program that is used by higher education. There are 23,000 higher education employees, including college presidents, currently enrolled in ABP. The employee and the employer each make a defined contribution into an account managed by one of six financial companies that offer the plans. The account is owned by the employee, not the state. The retirement account becomes part of the employee’s personal assets.

I would suggest that assigning new public employees, at every level, to ABP will slowly get the state out of the pension business. Buono and Roeder, in conjunction with Gov. Chris Christie, should be advocates for this change, as it will allow Buono to begin to fix a problem that she has identified, and allow Roeder to provide a much more viable source of income security for her union retirees.

Harold V. Kane, Monroe Twp.

Money-raising idea

Gov. Chris Christie is looking at the budget problems as cut here and charge more there. I would like to see some thinking outside the box for a change. Years ago, whoever thought that people would pay extra to have a personalized license plate, which boosted revenue?

My suggestion is to establish a new category of liquor license, as in California, for beer and wine. Many restaurants would welcome this and it would produce an initial source of state income as well as yearly fees. Can’t the governor get creative in solving our budget problems?

Amy Shearer, Short Hills

Change on the Turnpike

I’m not a detective, but please, if in the past 18 months 550 complaints were filed against New Jersey Turnpike toll collectors, has anyone checked to see if multiple complaints were about the same collectors ("These toll collectors need to make change in their rude behavior," Feb. 25)? If 10 percent of the complaints result in suspension, what does it take to get someone fired? Therein lies the problem.

These malcontents need to go. The line is long for those wanting their job.

Deborah Dalton, Livingston

The bear necessities

The Feb. 25 Reader Forum letter "Bring on the bear hunt" was obviously written by one of New Jersey’s bear-trophy hunters, who represent a tiny percentage of the population. The majority of New Jerseyans favor the scientifically proven and effective method of putting garbage in bear-proof containers to keep bears in the woods where they bother no one.

This approach was proven by a Rutgers researcher who presented scientific data from four national parks that proved controlling garbage prevents human-bear incidents. The data also proved that hunting bears did not decrease human-bear incidents in four states studied. Therefore, the science proved that strict garbage control is the only answer to preventing human-bear incidents.

Carol Rivielle, West Orange

Insurance is a waste

In a nation where 40 percent are overweight, 20 percent smoke and millions have sexually transmitted diseases, abuse substances or drive recklessly, why should we fund national medical insurance?

Moreover, medical care is greatly overrated. Increased life spans in the past 100 years are principally due to better food and sanitation, and less smoking. We spend three-times as much on medical care as we did in the 1960s. We are nowhere near three-times healthier.

Those who take care of themselves tend to live a long time. Those who don’t often die younger, despite expensive medical interventions. And old people wear out and die. That’s life.

Instead of seeking to compel others to subsidize the medical-industrial complex, those who believe everyone deserves limitless medical treatment could organize a charity for that purpose. I’d rather donate to people who could live much longer if they only had better food and water.

Mark Oshinskie, Highland Park