'Career Ladder' at Risk in Arizona

Arizona’s much-heralded teacher “career ladder”—one of the longest-standing differentiated-pay programs in the nation—is in jeopardy after a state court ruling that declared it unconstitutional because not all the state’s districts can participate.

The program allows each participating district to place teachers in different compensation levels, based on their involvement in professional development, assumption of additional roles and responsibilities, and monitoring of students’ attainment of district-set targets.

It began in 1985, during a period of widespread state...