ST. LOUIS DISTRICT LOOKS TO BUSINESS MODEL

The superintendent of the St. Louis School District has some good news and some bad news for principals and teachers.

The good news is principals and teachers in schools where student performance, dropout rates and college-entrance test scores improve will be entitled to bonuses.

The bad news is that principals and teachers in schools with no progress in these areas will be subject to being fired.

This sounds a lot like the model most businesses had always used. If you perform well, you are rewarded. If you don't perform well, you get a pink slip.

Public schools that operate more like businesses are the most successful districts. And even though businesses have plenty of government bureaucracy to deal with, they don't have anything like the red tape of government-sponsored schools.

So perhaps there are other business models for school districts to consider as well.