Merit pay for teachers

I understand the correlation between good schools and property values and the need to support the teaching professionals for all their hard work. There is also no denying the fact that teachers (as with any other professionals) need to get annual COLA raises.

But I find it interesting that while the unions are arguing for fair wages, the very same folks are also resisting the implementation of merit pay (not sure if this applies specifically to AUSD, but there appears to be an opposition to this concept in many parts of the country). However, as a recent NYT article points out, the opposition appears to be waning.

Alameda BART Station in 2050?

The Chronicle is reporting that BART is considering several long term options including the possibility of a second transbay tube that serves Alameda and connects to the new Transbay terminal in downtown SFO.

This is definitely long term (2050), but still bears watching.