Why Teachers Are Dropping Out.

The thinking went something like this: Make teacher evaluations tougher, and teaching would get better, which would mean higher student achievement, more students graduating from college, and ultimately a country better able to outsmart China et al. "Tougher" meant holding teachers accountable for how their students fared on standardized tests. The billions of dollars spent, the wars with teachers' unions, and the collapse in teacher morale had produced "null effects" on student test scores and educational attainment. Guerra-Vega says that while she was aware that moving from a state where teachers' unions are powerful to one where they're comparatively weak would cost her, the reality of working in a state that ranks 50th in teacher pay was chastening She was taking home just over $1,000 every two weeks and paying $400 a month for health insurance. Gilbert, Ariz., teacher Elise Villescaz marched with her colleagues to the state capitol, demanding that the legislature direct more resources to public school students and their teachers. [Extracted from the article]
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