Teacher unionist prefers incentives over merit pay

Good teachers should be rewarded with less paper work and more educational aid rather than merit pay, the president-elect of the nation's largest teacher union said.

But Mary Hatwood Futrell, who will head the National Education Association, said her union would discuss President Reagan's call for merit pay if all teachers first get an across-the-board pay raise. Ms. Futrell told a conference at Connecticut College that the proposed money for a merit pay plan would be better spent on such incentives to teachers as sabbaticals, scholarships, relief from clerical and discipline duties, and grants or loans for further education.