Here is an excellent article by Moshe Adler appropriate for this thread. Moshe's book, Economics for the Rest of Us, is excellent to. According the the study Adler debunks, good teachers make their students richer ($-wise) in adult life. Obama echoed this nonsense in his State of the Union address. Of course, the teachers' unions will pour money into his campaign this year. http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/02/14/scapegoating-teachers/