<p>One refrain I keep hearing from some posters in this forum and elsewhere regarding why you need tenure is that it is too difficult to evaluate teachers, and we will not know how to distinguish the effective teachers from the ineffective ones. At every public school, from elementary to high school, my kid went to, it was common knowledge among the students, parents, the guidance counselors and even some of the teachers who were the best teachers. It was no secret; we all knew. Many parents requested these teachers for their kids, but it was frustrating for many of the parents because their classes were always full. Yet, despite what was clear to everyone, these teachers were sometimes the first to go when there was a reduction in force, and, of course, it was a violation of union seniority rules to reward these teachers with merit pay. It seems to me another benefit of a voucher school system may be that these teachers might actually be pursued by various schools hoping to improve their competitive position vis-a-vis other schools in the community. In such a system, they may even command higher pay if a school had the incentive to entice them and keep them from leaving. I would think great teachers could only benefit from a school choice system.</p>