Ari J. Kaufman and Aaron Hanscom, two California public school teachers, have written an editorial in the ocRegister. (Registration required).

You can read the whole thing at Aaron’s blog without registering. Here’s an excerpt:

All teachers are saints, incapable of succumbing to the baser instincts of human nature like laziness, selfishness or ingratitude. Of course, this assertion is as verifiably false as the statement that all car salesmen are honest, gracious and industrious.

…

It is essential that we retire this conflicting attitude faster than new teachers like us are “retiring” from the profession. It’s human nature to work your hardest when there is an incentive, especially if it is monetary. While heart surgeons undoubtedly get satisfaction from helping their patients, only a few could honestly claim that their substantial salaries don’t help make all the arduous work worth it.

If teachers don’t get extra money for staying late or going above and beyond the call of duty, why in the world should they bother? We’ve all heard or uttered that unfortunate-but-true maxim: Teachers aren’t in it for the money. This is the reason top college graduates are flocking to other white-collar professions, rather than wasting their intellectual abilities on a job which doesn’t reward their efforts.

Their co-workers do not appreciate their editorial.

We are now targets at school. “They” are [angry]; and “they” is/are seemingly EVERYONE. Pay based upon performance is hardly a partisan issue; it’s teachers versus the rest of society. Even my hard-core left-wing, non teacher friends think “Merit Pay” sounds plausible.