Education secretary pushes merit pay

SAN DIEGO, July 2 (UPI) -- Teachers at a national union meeting booed U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan Thursday when he talked about merit pay but cheered him on other issues.

On balance, the 6,500 teachers at the National Education Association conference in San Diego were enthusiastic, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

"You must be willing to change," Duncan said. "When an ineffective teacher gets a chance to improve and doesn't, and when the tenure system keeps that teacher in the classroom anyway, then the system is protecting jobs rather than children. That's not a good thing. We need to work together to change that."

Merit pay is one issue the union and many teachers feel strongly about. President Barack Obama, when he addressed the NEA as a candidate in 2008, was booed when he supported tying teachers' pay to student achievement.

Dennis Van Roekel, the head of the NEA, told Politico before Duncan spoke the union would only support a system that is fair to teachers, like extra compensation for those who act as mentors.

"History is littered with failed attempts at merit pay, and when it comes to merit pay for subjective criteria, we are going to oppose that," he said.