In the 19th century and before, this is actually, more or less, how professors made their livings, at least in the German system. They were paid on an individua

In the 19th century and before, this is actually, more or less, how professors made their livings, at least in the German system. They were paid on an individual basis by their students. Naturally, you had to teach classes that lots of people wanted to take if you wanted to make any bucks (or Deutschmarks or whatever). I don't think this is a system particularly worth returning to. From the article, this pair of things is absolutely bats: <em>“Most importantly, teacherpreneurship is not about promoting a free-market vision for the profit of a few—but rather how our society can invest substantially in teachers who can expertly serve millions of children and families who are not in the position to choose a better school somewhere else or find the most erudite online teacher anytime, anywhere. Teacherpreneurship is all about the public good, not private gain.” (15 October, 2010) Freelance teachers can cut out the middle man by gaining their own client base, choosing how much they wish to charge and by having more freedom in choosing their most effective teaching methodology.</em> Right, and where would these teacher-entrepreneurs (if anyone actually says "teacherpreneurs" I hope to god their jaw rots off) choose, predominantly, to peddle their wares? I'm going to go ahead and guess that it's in the areas where people <em>are</em> in a position to "choose a better school somewhere else", because that's where the money is. They will, probably, set their wages and gain their own client base in places where they can be assured of clients who want to pay (people beset by class anxiety or who want to ensure that their kids go to the right college (or are taught be the right freelance prof---this scheme could not possibly work if there weren't gradations of status on which to judge people; that's a large part of the role the contemporary college plays)) and who can pay. Keathley's wonderment regarding the possibility of "earn[ing] annual incomes in the six-figure range instead of the average contingent faculty rate" is also kind of strange; that's already possible---just not for contingent faculty.