Teacher Incentives, or Teaching Incentives?

By Patrick R. Riccards

In our current zeal to reward “excellent” teachers, are we jeopardizing truly excellent teaching?

For some time now, we have been hearing that boosts in teacher pay are the solution to struggling schools. In his book written during the height of his failed Edison Schools experience, the education entrepreneur Christopher Whittle suggested that good teachers should be earning six-figure incomes. The economist Eric A. Hanushek of the Hoover Institution and Stanford University has made similar calls more recently. And Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is seeking to raise salaries for New York City’s veteran teachers to well over $100,000 a year.

The sentiment behind such thinking is strong. Good classroom teachers should be paid more. Teaching in today’s K-12 environment is more demanding than it ever has been. Effective teachers are part educator, motivational speaker, social worker, job counselor, therapist, and miracle worker. As we have raised the stakes and increased accountability, we’ve put the weight of these school “improvements” on the...