"Mrs. Smith, If You Want Johnny To Get an "A'..."

Reforminess is making us all more stupiderish:

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) — Teacher bonuses will hinge on how well they engage parents in some south-central Idaho schools.

Districts in the rural farming communities of Wendell, Jerome and Gooding have adopted merit pay plans for some employees that tie bonuses to the level of participation in parent-teacher conferences, the The Time-News reports .

[...]

The Wendell district decided to base merit pay bonuses on parental involvement at high school conferences because participation has been a problem in the past, Superintendent Greg Lowe said. Now, up to 70 percent of the potential bonus available to employees is based on how many parents show up for the conferences.

"They have really struggled to get parent involvement at parent-teacher conferences," Lowe said. [emphasis mine]

Well, obviously they haven't struggled enough. When are these lazy teachers going to get off their asses, break out the shotguns, drive to students' homes, and get serious about motivating parents?

BTW, I don't think anyone who has followed the corporate reform movement should be the least bit surprised by this. The entire premise of the whole thing is that teachers are responsible for the behavior of others. This is simply an extension in illogic.

(h/t Larry Ferlazzo, the teacher who never sleeps)