Do Teacher Merit Pay Programs Work? If you think it won't work, look up Marva Collins, and see what she accomplished when she left the system behind and just started teaching. by ufisaodfka ... Asian Students Spend 50% More Time In Class, School Year 1/3 Longer We've had great educators - Jaime Escalante (Los Angeles), Marva Collins (Chicago), Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin (KIPP), Seymour Fliegel (Harlem), ...