Brief Thoughts on Teacher Pay

by Conor Friedersdorf

In the "teacher wars" here's where I stand: I think America's teachers should be paid more in money and prestige, that the discretion of principals is a better way to determine relative compensation than test scores, seniority, or masters degrees, that programs like Teach for America demonstrate the need for reform in the credentialing process, and that a necessary tradeoff as teachers are paid more in a merit based system is less job security.

I understand why teachers...