On March 10, 2009, President Obama gave a speech about the education system in America. He admits that the education system needs improving and wants to focus on several areas that directly impact teachers. Those who are new to teaching and those who are new to teaching a particular grade have many issues to work through and many things to learn. These ideas expressed by the president are now among those issues that must be worked through and learned.

Rewarding "Excellent" Teachers and Getting Rid of "Bad" Teachers

One idea President Obama mentioned was "rewarding excellence in teaching with extra pay” There are few if any teachers who would say they would not like extra pay, but what kind of pay is this? This is what is termed "merit pay" where teachers are judged based on student achievement. The basic concept is that the better the students in a class do, the better the teacher is, therefore give that teacher a bonus.