Leave No Teacher Behind

By Richard Cohen
Tuesday, November 18, 2003; Page A25

So I have come up with my Leave No Teacher Behind Act. In its roughest form, it means forgiving all teachers their federal income tax. For a married teacher with two kids under the age of 14, that would mean an additional $4,300 a year in disposable income. If states and localities joined in, the pot would be even richer.

Would this by itself mean that we'd find only great teachers in the classroom? Of course not. Salaries would still not be great, and working conditions would not change at all. Schools might be dirty, dangerous places and parents inattentive, abusive and -- in too many cases -- not in the least supportive of their children. Still, it would be a start.

No magic bullet exists for what ails our schools. The problem is complex, and it is further complicated by politics, ideology and in some cases the recalcitrance of teacher unions. Yet everything we know about education alerts us to the critical importance of good teachers and principals. Ask someone who turned his life around and he will often name a teacher.

You may ask, why stop at teachers? Why not social workers, who are also severely underpaid and do work few people would even consider? Fine. It would be okay with me if they didn't have to pay taxes either. But we have to start somewhere, and the field of education is as good a place as any. I would, in short, treat education as Congress does some other American industries.