Reward Teacher Heroes, Not Those Who Stayed at Home

In his state of the Commonwealth speech last night, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam made some proposals worth cheering and some that bear closer scrutiny. I’ll get to them in future posts. But one remark in particular stands out as totally wrong-headed — the idea, in the year of COVID-19, of giving every teacher a pay raise. Said the Governor:

School staff and teachers have made great sacrifices this year, and I thank them. … Investing in education includes giving teachers a pay bonus.