>In most schools the pay a teacher receives is not based on how well he
>teaches but on how many degrees he has, and not just any degree,
>only particularly silly ones in something caused "education" count.
>This leads to absurdities such as a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry not
>being
>allowed to teach high school chemistry. The policy also maximizes the wrong
>thing, not smart kids but just the amount of parchment a teacher possesses.
>
>I'm almost embarrassed to point out the obvious but the only way to tell a
>good
>teacher from a bad one is to see how well they teach. Have all students in
>a given grade take a standardized test, this would really be a test of
>the teachers not the students. Teachers with students in the top 20%
>would get a raise, those in the top 5% would get a big raise, those in the
>top 1% would get rich, those in the bottom 20% would get a pay cut ,
>those in the bottom 5% would get a big pay cut and those in the
>bottom 1% would get fired.
>
>I'm sure the National Education Association would really hate this
>policy and that's pretty good evidence it's a good idea
Excellent idea for a way schools can stay competitive.