ShinobiKnight

Merit pay is a brilliant idea. What's wrong with being rewarded for excelling at your job, especially if it's something as important as education?

I oppose longer school hours though. I don't believe less time in school is the reason American students have worse grades than foreign ones. It's because our education system is so good, Americans take it for granted. In Japan, for example, about 1/4 of students make it into college; that's why they study so diligently, and even go to cram school in their free time. In America, as long as you actually take school seriously, you'll most likely get passing grades and get into college. Some kids see that and figure you can get by putting in minimal effort, which is untrue. What we need is a change in the way the bad students think about school, something I don't see happening.

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