Bill Gates gave a speech in Louisville last week to the Council of Chief State Schools Officers (CCSSO), where he argued a need to address school financing problems by rethinking teacher pay. In particular, the steps and lanes approach that increases compensation based on seniority and degrees, without regard for performance. He urged moving focus from reducing class sizes to paying teachers more if they successfully take on larger class sizes and work at more difficult schools.

Instead of seniority and education level, what could be a mechanism for effectively determining teacher pay? What would the tools be? Think beyond principals, and tests; who might be involved, and what other forms of review and assessment may be used in determining appropriate levels of compensation?

In some schools, teachers set it themselves.

View the video on the CCSSO website.