Third, it created a merit-pay system in which teachers whose pupils pass certain exams get bonuses.

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His merit-pay proposal would expand the uses of a teacher-evaluation system still being hammered out for the city's teachers.

WSJ: Thompson Proposes Plan for Teacher Merit Wages

This opinion is supported by long-term research published recently in the United States, which tracked a sample of academics who had worked within a merit-pay system.

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The action by 2, 800 staff (nearly half the workforce) at SC First Bank Korea is ostensibly over a merit-pay scheme, which would be at odds with Korean seniority-based traditions.

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Mr. Thompson's plan bears some resemblance to merit-pay systems opposed by teachers unions in New York and elsewhere but it has differences, such as paying highly rated teachers more for taking on more challenging assignments.

WSJ: Thompson Proposes Plan for Teacher Merit Wages

The resulting contract, signed in fall 2009, garnered national attention for its brevity, just 10 pages, and its establishment of a merit-based pay scale instead of guaranteed annual pay raises, prompting charter school administrators to issue a press release.

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If the savings are as significant as to merit single-payer, such a plan should more than pay for itself.

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In Newark, Mr. Christie helped usher in a form of teacher merit pay by shepherding contract talks between his hand-picked superintendent, Cami Anderson, and the Newark Teachers Union.

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Policymakers have pushed mostly carrot-and-stick remedies: firing underperforming teachers, giving merit pay to high performers, penalizing schools with poor student test scores.

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