Governors Urged to Push Pay Strategies

New ways of paying teachers launched by districts such as Denver and Houston are alone unlikely to produce the sweeping change that is needed on the compensation front, a report from the National Governors Association says.

Calling Houston and Denver “outliers,” Bryan C. Hassel said governors and states can both encourage districts to get experimental in smart ways and to move money out of the traditional system into pay that will produce fresh incentives.

“Governors are in a position to provide the bold leadership because they sit above the political fights that can bog down district-level reforms,” said Mr. Hassel, the report’s co-author...