So I've been thinking about education reform in the United States recently. Several things occurred to me. I've always thought that teachers should be paid more. Their average salaries should be tripled. At the same time, teachers have to be held accountable. I like unions, but the teachers' unions seem to have at least somewhat of a detrimental effect on education, because they don't allow our teachers to be held to the highest standards, and they allow ineffective teachers to remain employed.

I think we need to provide incentives for the smartest young people to become teachers. Part of that will involve increasing salaries, so that people look to teaching as a viable alternative to higher paying jobs on Wall Street or in Silicon Valley or elsewhere. But we also have to think outside the box.

At Harvard, where I went to college, there was always a lot of controversy about ROTC on campus, due to the military's discriminatory policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Leaving all that aside for a moment, what occurred to me is that America needs a program like ROTC but for teachers. This goes beyond Teach for America, which is a good if flawed program.

What I am proposing is something where if you commit to this program, you will enroll in special training sessions throughout your college career, including summers. After college, you must commit to 4-5 years as a K-12 teacher. In exchange, the government will pay your entire college tuition.

This would say to Americans that our teachers are as important as our soldiers. (and I love soldiers, so to me, this is high praise).

I would be open to variations on this scheme of course. For instance, perhaps instead of paying the college tuition (which some people's parents can and will pay for anyway), the program can stipulate that after the 4-5 years of teaching, if the person so desires, they can attend graduate or professional school free of charge. This will include masters and doctoral programs, medical school, law school, business school, divinity school, etc.

Perhaps there would even be enough funding to provide both. In any case, this too would motivate young people to choose teaching.

Finally, I think that we should create various paths to careers in education that don't already exist, especially at elite colleges. For example, I believe that Harvard has some sort of program now, similar to the one I proposed (though I don't know if the financial incentives are there) with the Harvard School of Education.

I think all elite colleges should offer undergraduate majors in education and/or free tuition to those graduates to attend education school for a masters, to prepare themselves for careers in education. For example, suppose I graduated with a BA in mathematics. The university would pay for my education to receive an MA in education (this would include a living stipend) after which I would commit 2-4 years to teaching. This way, teachers would be more effective and and there would be considerable incentives to do it.

I programs such as these already exist, they should be advertised and promoted more heavily. These programs, coupled with an increase in salary and prestige to K-12 teachers (along with higher, more rigorously enforced standards), would do a lot to improve education in the United States.