"One stat that was particularly interesting, from a Stanford researcher whose name I forget, was that replacing the worst 6-10% of teachers would put us on the

"One stat that was particularly interesting, from a Stanford researcher whose name I forget, was that replacing the worst 6-10% of teachers would put us on the same proficiency level as Finland." Us = "the teachers" or "the US school system"? If the latter, are we allowed to import the Finnish parents? Bad teachers hang on for reasons other than union contracts. The private schools and the charters typically don't pay as well. Maybe it isn't so easy to replace a French/chemistry/history teacher, or maybe you have to do so in the last three weeks before school starts. If you get a stinker then, perhaps in a private school you can fix this after a year, but then you'll have shot a dozen or more kids' introduction to French or chemistry.