Regardless which horse you backed in the Lucia Mar Unified School District Teacher of the Year race, you win!

"It's everyone," said Branden Leach, president of the teachers association. "We all help children in our own special way." All 575 of them.

Like Mr. Incredible said, "They keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity."

I'm spinning a little -- the union is protesting the merit pay initiative introduced by Governor Schwarzenegger. "We decided that choosing one among us as best is similar to merit pay," said Leach.

Hmmm... Everyone remembers a few awful teachers from his or her educational career. Not sure I'd want my name next to theirs on a Top Teacher plaque. This reminds me of my stint as a kindergarten soccer coach, where we weren't allowed to keep score or records. One parent even suggested we remove the nets entirely, so the kids could just chase the ball around without the pressure of "winning". I must admit, however, scoring goals did not play a big part in our offense.