Tight Budgets Prompt More Talk Than Action on Teacher-Pay Plans

The notion that teachers should be paid for how well they’re doing their jobs, and not for how many years they’ve been in them, is whipping up plenty of talk in statehouses and at policy get-togethers.

But action may have to wait until state and local coffers begin filling again.

While it’s not a new concept, the interest in what is commonly called “performance pay” continues to build. High-profile business leaders, such as the former head of IBM, and governors or state school boards in at least three states are calling for alternatives to the largely uniform way...