This Raj Chetty paper on teacher quality makes a strong case for doing whatever you can to get as many good teachers as possible (and as few bad ones). https:/

This Raj Chetty paper on teacher quality makes a strong case for doing whatever you can to get as many good teachers as possible (and as few bad ones). https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/aer.104.9.2633 https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/aer.104.9.2633 They claim replacing a bad teacher with an average teacher is worth like $250k in earnings per classroom. It's unclear what effect a blanket minimal salary would have on teacher quality. I'd be worried that it might make bad teachers stick around with good ones already making more than that.