David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

pointing out that nothing costs more than
reducing class size. It costs so much to
hire extra teachers and build them
classrooms in which to teach that there
is precious little money left over to pay
teachers. As a result, the salaries of
teachers, relative to other professions,
have steadily fallen over the past fifty
years.
In the past generation, the American
educational system has decided not to
seek the very best teachers, give them
lots of kids to teach, and pay them more
—which would help children the most. It
has decided to hire every teacher it can
get its hands on and pay them less. (The
growth in spending on public education
over the course of the twentieth century