What’s wrong in Oregon City? Why would the Oregon City School District turn their collective noses up at $2.54 million? Because some teachers might get bonuses or incentive pay while others don’t? Because they have “philosophical differences?”
Now, if Oregon City School District were preparing its students for the 21st century economy (the one in which China has an economy twice the size of the US economy), then, maybe, it would be OK to let them go their own way. But they don’t. They have no Mandarin immersion program (and may not even teach Mandarin anywhere in their district) and they do not pay to send high 
school students for a year’s schooling abroad anywhere, much less China. To their creidt, they do have one Spanish immersion program (split between two schools, apparently). It's not enough.
Nicole Dungca reports on the districts rejection of federal fund in her Oregonian article “Oregon City School District walks away from $2.54 million grant for performance pay” (here):
The Oregon City School District has decided to reject a $2.54 million federal grant meant to reward top educators, partly because of philosophical concerns over performance-based pay.
When the district won the money in September 2010 through a group application with six other districts and the non-profit Chalkboard Project, Oregon City's union and administration at first insisted they could devise a way to tap the federal government's "Teacher Incentive Fund" without offering merit-based pay incentives.
A year later, after failing to agree on a plan for individual bonuses, the 8,100-student district has decided to abandon the program......
So sad. Just living in the past, and holding students back. So sad.
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