We know that more education means higher salaries: http://education.yahoo.net/degrees/article...

and some want a "business-driven" merit alternative for a pay scale so you could do a commission system (like insurance).

How about everyone providing one percent of their salary every year to go back to their teachers as a fee for success! This would be payroll collected starting whenever you begin working and go in a check from the state or school that you attended and divided up to all your teachers.

Teachers who stayed in the profession for a long time would build up lots of "commissions", and teachers whose students graduated and attended college would get more money. The commissions would automatically be inflation protected as salaries rise with the economy.

Teachers whose students were more successful would earn more and send more commissions back to their original teachers! The more successful the students, the more likely they would be to get more education or at least be more successful adults, and more teachers would be contributing to the salaries. Some teachers might make hugh salaries! What would David Cook's 2nd grade teacher get as 1% of a recording star's salary after he won American Idol?

There would be no "tests" or property taxes, and teachers would be encouraged to teach more students who achieved more success.

Some of you may be thinking - the teachers would just fight to get the smart kids hoping for future economic gain. No way! GW is classic proof that a dumb bunny may make a killing!

You can play with the numbers if you don't like one per cent; pick the amount you think is fair, but that's a way to fund the teacher salaries, reward the best, and avoid property taxes.

(Don't flame me, I didn't think of this all by myself...it is just something for discussion in response to the merit pay folks.)