The broader issue of how we can rethink the teaching profession, make fuller use of talented teachers, and wisely spend the dollars we do have is more important than debating what the "right" wage level should be.

Teachers are the most important school-level factor in student success—but as any parent knows, all teachers are not created equal. Reforms to the current quite cursory teacher evaluation system, if done well, have the potential to remove the worst-performing teachers and, even more important, to assist the majority in improving their craft.

The real question isn’t whether we should pay all teachers more or less; it’s how to pay the right teachers more, in a way that serves students and maximizes the bang we get for the educational buck.

Teacher pension systems pose two problems for K-12 schooling: they create the potential for irresponsible fiscal stewardship and they hinder efforts to boost teacher quality.

An interview with Frederick M. Hess and Juliet P. Squire on teacher retirement plans.