Quebecers in favour of merit pay for teachers
Montreal, September 8, 2011 – As another school year begins, attention has turned to ways of improving the quality of the education system in Quebec, especially through teacher evaluation and merit pay. What's more, a poll carried out by Leger Marketing and published today shows that Quebecers are very open to these ideas.
Indeed, two thirds (67%) of Quebecers are of the opinion that teachers' remuneration should take into account their performance. In other words, teachers getting the best results should be rewarded with an overall salary that is greater than that received by their less effective colleagues. As for teachers deemed to be incompetent, it's no surprise to find that 9 out of 10 Quebecers want them to be fired.
"Remuneration policy is a tool that can improve educational quality by valuing excellence in teaching," says Germain Belzile, director of research at the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), who collaborated on the preparation of an upcoming Economic Note on best practices with regard to merit pay for teachers.
The poll also shows that 39% of people wish that schools could be more autonomous so that they could determine for themselves the best way to remunerate their teachers. "This would represent a change of course compared to the current situation, in which the Department of Education makes all decisions. As a general rule, decisions that are made locally offer greater flexibility in finding solutions to the particular needs of each school," explains Mr. Belzile.
The poll, conducted from August 22 to 25, 2011 with a representative sample of 1005 people, has a margin of error of + or – 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. It can be consulted free of charge at on our website.
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The Montreal Economic Institute is an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit research and educational organization. Through its publications, media appearances and conferences, the MEI stimulates debate on public policies in Quebec and across Canada by proposing wealth-creating reforms based on market mechanisms. It does not accept any government funding.
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