Incentive Pay for Teachers

Re “Merit Pay Proposed for L.A. Teachers,” March 4.

In this front-page article you report that the teachers, in order to do a proper job for us, need a $7,000 incentive bonus. To level the playing field perhaps they should give back some of the money they have received over the years for not doing what they were paid for. The results have been less than stellar.

In the same edition you report that these same teachers who are so underpaid decided to fight campaign finance reform Proposition 25. They had authorized their union to spend $6 million to accomplish the job. In their last-minute panic they authorized another $640,000, same purpose. This was only one of 20 propositions; how much more have they spent on this election?

It appears money is no object, so why is an incentive bonus needed? Is the incentive to get them even more involved in politics?

Perhaps they should start doing the job we are paying them to do. They are not being paid to get involved in politics to the extent they are. That $6 million would go a long way in helping them do a credible job of teaching.

ROBERT D. WILLIS

Ventura