history teacher, his research interests include teacher policy, the effects of educational policies, teacher labor markets, and teachers unions. All of the authors of this volume want to express their gratitude to the Economic Policy Institute's publications staff -- department director Joseph Procopio, editor Ellen Levy, and designer Sylvia Saab -- for their dedication and hard work in the launching of this new EPI book series. We are indebted to the district officials and teachers union representatives who spoke with us about current pay-for-performance initiatives in Houston, Hillsborough County, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, and Minneapolis. Their willingness to describe their programs in detail and to comment on the history and development of pay for performance in their district provided important insights for our analysis. We are grateful to Lawrence Mishel, who conceived of this project and invited us to participate. We also thank Sean Corcoran and Joydeep Roy for their ongoing assistance and helpful comments on earlier drafts. In addition, we benefited from the thoughtful critique and suggestions of several anonymous reviewers. Our work is informed by our colleagues at the Project on the Next Generation of Teachers and the past e?orts of policy makers, administrators, and teachers to align the incentives of pay systems with the goals of schooling. We have learned a great deal from the research and analysis of many others, including Dan Lortie, Edward Lawler, Daniel Koretz, Richard Murnane, David Cohen, Allan Odden, and Carolyn Kelley. Finally, we thank the teachers union leaders, district officials, teachers, and school principals