The British House of Commons education committee recently recommended greater flexibility in teacher pay as a way to combat specific teacher shortages. In particular, they recommend that "super teachers" be given bonuses for working in tough schools, and that schools that face persistent recruiting problems should be able to pay more to entice new teachers. Of course, teachers unions on all sides of every ocean are opposed to anything that smacks of merit pay, especially if it links teacher pay to student outcomes. BBC education correspondent Mike Baker argues that this opposition stems from historical precedent. More than a century ago, it seems, some British teachers' pay was linked to their pupils' achievement, which led to abuses and cheating. Perhaps that's the reason, and maybe it's pure self-interest in contemporary context, but British leaders are looking to the more recent example of Sweden, which suggests that merit pay can be made to work. The Swedish model, said to be supported by teachers and their unions, is a more flexible system that allows individual teachers to negotiate their salary directly with the principal, who can consider student performance as a factor in deciding how much to offer. Strange, that capitalist America pays each teacher according to his needs, not his ability, while socialistic Sweden has chosen the invisible hand of supply and demand.
"More money for 'super teachers'?" by Mike Baker, BBC News, September 24, 2004