Ed Glaeser Asks for a Large Inceases in Federal Education Spending

He writes:

Want better schools? Hire better teachers: This election marks a new beginning. Improving our schools may be the most important way that President-elect Obama can leave America stronger than he found it. He must avoid any small plans. America doesn't need an $18 billion Band-Aid. The country needs a massive education overhaul, and better teachers will be the most important element in that overhaul. Spending more and attracting able teachers is the best way to use resources to improve the human capital of our children and the future of our nation...

IMHO, the K-12 educational establishment still acts as though we were back in the 1950s--as if women could be nurses, secretaries, waitresses, laundresses, and teachers and nothing else--and so you didn't have to pay teachers a reasonable wage to get high quality.