Reforming the nation’s schools was the one part of President Obama’s State of the Union address to receive bipartisan support. That’s because major players in both parties have come to recognize that, in the president’s words, “Teachers matter.” Adopting that basic and obvious premise has enormous ramifications for today’s public school system.

Among the education initiatives supported by the president in his speech were policies that would reward the best teachers and replace ineffective teachers. The current system achieves neither goal.