How much to increase teacher pay is a huge issue in Iowa right now, and I've been neglecting my duty of spouting underinformed and inarticulate opinions. No more!

First of all, I think it is safe to say that our teacher salaries are too low for the performance we expect (and for the most part receive). We generally expect our teachers to be well-educated and hard-working, and yet their salaries in no way reflect this. Increasing teacher pay should be a priority if we want to maintain our position as a top-tier education state.