Writing in the American Prospect, Kevin Carey of Education Sector argues that "when it comes to autonomy, teachers have been sold a bill of goods." Under the tutelage of their unions, teachers see autonomy as worth fighting for. After all, it's a hallmark of professionalism, isn't it?

Maybe so, but Carey asserts that the pursuit of autonomy has ill-served teachers and their students. In its name, teachers have been left to improvise standards, goals and classroom content. And they have rejected most meaningful evaluations of their performance. As a result, teachers aren't nearly as effective as they might be (witness student test scores) nor can the best among them stand out (see the uniform salary schedule). No wonder that teacher salaries have stagnated. Policymakers just can't see what they are paying for.

Time to trade in this Model-T, Carey contends, making the new hallmarks of professionalism high standards, serious training and bigger paychecks for results. It's a reasonable swap for a favorite unit on insects and an alarmingly vague notion of how you are doing in your job.