If there's no way to determine who is a good teacher, and no way to pay good teachers the right amount of money, it seems to me that we ought to cap teacher salaries at $30K plus a cost of living adjustment. I know a lot of people who want to be teachers and don't care about the money; I know plenty of teachers who complain that they're overpaid, but can't find any job that matches their skills and pays more than about 40% less than they currently make.

And if you pay for seniority, you're rewarding people who know how to make themselves hard to get rid of.