During his presidential campaign, Obama received an immense amount of support from teachers across America. Teachers supported Obama because he promised to reform the No Child Left Behind Act, to invest in early childhood education and to make college affordable to all Americans.

Months later, Obama is poised to make a decision that may jeopardize their jobs and salaries. Obama supports teacher merit pay, a system that pays teachers according to how their students perform, meaning that teachers may not get paid as much if their students do not perform well. Similarly, teachers may get paid more if their students perform well.

"Despite resources that are unmatched anywhere in the world, we have let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short and other nations outpace us. The future belongs to the nation that best educates its citizens," Obama said, according to the Washington Post.

"Maybe this will inspire bad teachers to make more of an effort and actually do the job they are getting paid to do," senior Qunvar Arora said.

Many people believe that for America to be a true world power, education must become and remain the strong point from which it thrives and continuously excels. Obama has said on several occasions that he will make a change and turn America into an academically-excelling nation with the help of its teachers. He sees this as an opportunity to work with teachers, not to punish them.

Teachers may feel threatened by this decision for several reasons. Teachers may believe that some of their students are not capable of learning certain things and that their salaries will suffer as a result.

"The teacher merit program is such a good idea. It rewards teachers who actually bother to do their job and really care if students learn," senior Lauren Rose said.

Ultimately, Obama’s executive powers can give him the authority to make drastic changes to the current system. Although separation of powers exists to check the power of the president, Obama still has major influence on the legislative branch.