MANY Americans celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week last week with ceremonies and accolades for our many outstanding educators.
In fact, most teachers are great - richly deserving not only of our praise but of compensation commensurate with their skills. Unfortunately, teachers unions are holding them back, paying them according to tenure, not ability, in the name of "fairness."
In Washington, D.C., and in school districts across the country, the result is a political climate where we can't put our money where our mouths are.
Our words of appreciation will always ring hollow if unions succeed in preventing us from using pay to show our appreciation for teachers' merit.
It's no offense to good teachers to be critical of a system that insulates bad teachers from