I have the impression that my grade eight French teacher -- I won't mention her name -- didn't like teaching French. I say this because she would literally disappear within the first five minutes of class (after having instructed us to play card games in French), and only reappear from her self-imposed exile five minutes before class was scheduled to end. Being 14 years old, I, along with my fellow school-disparaging friends, thought this was great fun. Needless to say, we did not spend the allotted time playing card games in French.

Now, from experience I know that my French teacher was an extreme exception to the rule. The vast majority of teachers are exceptionally hard working and conscientious. That same year I had a Social Studies teacher who was, to say the least, inspirational. But I have often wondered how on earth that French teacher got away with not doing her job.

I have to conclude that part of it had to do with the fact that the system she was operating under provided very little incentive. Public education, despite all its advantages, provides few rewards for teachers or school boards that actually improve

the skills of their students. Personal satisfaction and a sense of purpose in most teachers are motivating factors for enriching Alberta's students, but that only goes so far.

Something more is needed. This fact was recognized by the Alberta government in March of this year when it introduced something called the Alberta School Incentive Program. The Program would have doled out an additional $65 million a year to those school districts that could show an improvement in their students' test scores and other measures of performance.

The province would foster an environment where the pursuit of excellence has its rewards. School boards would receive more money to do things like reward good teachers with salary increases or lighten their load by reducing class sizes. Pay for performance. How could anyone argue against that

Well, somebody has. In fact, just about everybody has. The Alberta Teachers' Association, the College of Alberta School Superintendents, the Alberta School Boards Association and the Alberta Home and School Councils' Association are all opposed to the idea. Why

Well, they all seem to resent the idea of competition. Oh, they still want the money - they just don't want to have to compete for it. These groups have instead proposed something called the Alberta School Improvement Program that would simply throw more tax dollars at the existing system without measuring the results.

I don't know about you, but if I'm paying for something I want to know if it's working. If I'm going to pay more for it than I currently am, I want to know that there's some improvement. The Incentive Program would have given taxpayers a way to measure the value of Alberta's education system.

But alas, newly appointed "Learning" Minister Lyle Oberg has lost his nerve and put the Incentive Program on the back burner. If it ever does re-emerge there's a good chance it will have nothing to do with incentives. What a shame for taxpayers. My former French teacher would be proud.