Mike Ford: Structuring Teacher Pay in Gov. Walker's Wisconsin

Many states are implementing merit pay and value-added assessments for teachers, but Mike Ford of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute says they'd do better to follow a different approach: freeing districts and schools to set their own policies. Gov. Scott Walker's limits on collective bargaining allow Wisconsin school districts to dispatch the traditional step-and-lane teacher pay systems for something better, and Ford's new report advises how to create some excellent alternatives. He suggests encouraging teacher and principal collaboration with, among other policies, schoolwide per-pupil bonuses for improving student achievement.