The answer is: just live in West Virginia and teach in Maryland

Earlier this month a quarter of West Virginia's teachers staged a walk-out in protest of salaries that are far below those in neighboring Maryland and Virginia districts. The walkout prompted one reporter to study the relationship between housing costs on teacher salaries. The message: higher housing costs correlate with higher salaries, and West Virginia is no exception. Teacher salaries and housing costs are generally lower than in neighboring states.

Math/science bonuses gain traction in NC

Interest in incentive pay for hard-to-staff teachers appears to be growing in North Carolina. Guilford County's extremely generous incentive pay for math teachers has inspired talk among the state's Senate leaders of a possible statewide plan. Past action may not portend the future. While a proposed statewide bonus plan targeted at math and science teachers fizzled in 2001, public sentiment has shifted considerably.

Increasing data collection and transparency in Colorado

Colorado's House Ed Committee passed approved Senate Bill 190 this month, establishing a 13-member council to study the possibility of implementing a teacher tracking system in the state. Proponents hope to use data collected to link teacher performance and student performance. This system could also be used to hold teacher prep programs accountable for their graduates' performance in the classroom.