<p>I only read a part of OP’s post and one answer. Growing up in South Korea (I’m an immigrant), I can tell you one sure thing: South Koreans also use “uniform system of teacher compensation based on seniority, degrees, etc.” You shouldn’t be confused Hagwon teachers with school teachers. Private or public, school teachers get paid by their seniority + degrees/certificates just like in the United States.</p>
<p>Many South Koreans have agreed that their educational system failed for last ten years. Every new government promised that they are gonna change the “failed” educational system, but none has been successful. One thing you should notice is, that “Rock-star teacher” is a hagwon teacher, not a school teacher. Hagwon is Korean for a cram school, and school teachers in Korea have been ignored for so many years now, since students focus on cram school classes and take a nap in the actual school classes. And as Turbo93 already pointed out, it’s all about competitions and passing tests, instead of a real intellectual inquiry. It is alarming that us Americans are taking old South Korean educational system so seriously, while South Koreans almost uniformly believe that their system failed. As a result of the failed system (and not being able to change it for more than a decade), it is very usual for South Korean students to go to school at 7 a.m. and leave school at 9p.m. and go to a cram school until 12 a.m… Seniors usually go to cram schools until 2 or 3 a.m… </p>
<p>Well, obviously, since I’m an immigrant, I experienced both education, and American educational system obviously has a serious problem as well. And I think those problems two countries are at the two extremes: South Korean education is way too uniformized and competitive; American education is way too laid back and have no standard system to minimize the gaps between schools. Copying S.Korean education certainly is not an answer. Rather, we need to learn while a little bit of competition is good, competition-centered education will create more of problem. We should create unique system based on our racial, ethnical, geographical diversity that S.Korea does not have…</p>