Some argue that if you want better teachers, pay them more. The real problem is not the salary levels of teachers, but rather its variance. As long as the worst teachers earn roughly what the best earn, and tenure is achieved in only a few years, teaching will be a haven, in general, for people seeking security, for those who want to avoid risk, and for those who think that in a merit pool they would sink to the bottom. Most teachers who would thrive in a merit-based world leave the classroom after a very few years. If the best teachers were rewarded in proportion to their accomplishments in enhancing student learning, attitudes, and behavior, a different type of person would be attracted to the profession.
Some doctors deal with easy patients or diseases and others have more complicated ones.
Yet the best lawyers and doctors are usually easy to identify and they earn more than others. And the best are not necessarily those who have winnable cases or patients with the most easily curable diseases. Some point out that a student s growth with one teacher also depends upon previous and current experiences with other teachers, parental impact, and so on. But lawyers also rely upon their colleagues, paralegals, and expert witnesses. Despite this, we still know who the best lawyers are.