Many people agree that teacher pay should increase if we want to see an end to teacher shortages, and to attract and retain good teachers. There has been an ongoing debate about merit pay for the last few years, but progress has been minimal.

Instead, public school teachers have been increasingly pressured with things like test results and performance metrics. Education could learn from the corporate world, where good performance is amply rewarded with financial benefits.

Excellent teachers promise huge benefits for students and society. If we want them to influence our children for the better, then we should compensate them well. That doesn’t mean test results exclusively, but rather teacher effectiveness. Yet, it seems that journey is still an arduous one.

It's not all bad news. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal's recent state address touched on some important points like raises for teachers, bringing national attention back to the issue. He announced that the budget would include 3 percent pay raises for teachers and all other state employees.

These efforts are focused at a new compensation model for K-12 programs that will attract more teachers and retain them. He also hinted at taking a "significant" step for merit pay for teachers, but the details on implementation are not clear yet. Attached to these changes would also be a proposed overhaul of the state's 30-year-old school funding formula.

In a similar move, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration announced progress on a merit-pay system for K-12 educators. However, while they did not outline any specific plan or give details, they have mentioned that their main focus is to attract and retain high-quality teachers.

Some in the education field are unsure of where these policies might lead. They feel that this is mistaken, as no one teacher should be chosen for better compensation, and the matter of salaries are decisions best left to school boards.

They also feel this could lead to paying more attention to capable or above-average students instead of the weaker ones, a trend that we see in the test-based system today.

While the debate rages on, teachers, teacher aides and other school-based employees at Hillsborough County Public Schools in Florida rejoiced as raises were announced. These raises include previously negotiated raises as per the newly implemented evaluation system, credit for a year of service, as well as performance bonuses for those rated "highly effective" under the evaluation system, which will also consider student test performance.

There are reservations, of course, but the new evaluation system is evolving and the school system's administration is working hard to change the way teachers are judged.

This is an interesting development, as instead of an arbitrary evaluation, peers will be judging and evaluating each other's performance. This element will consist of "non-evaluative" feedback and will account for 25 percent of the total evaluation score.

More states should look into these policies and take immediate action, as this report for Cumberland County, North Carolina, states. Severe budget cuts and decreases in average salaries have resulted in a major brain drain for the county and the state as a whole.

Many teachers, both experienced and new, have moved to other states where the pay is better, something that no school district can afford a great deal of. It not only affects the future of the students but also the overall economic development efforts in a state.