I believe we need to make the teaching profession attractive to highly motivated and intelligent individuals, the sort of people who, like me, would be far better off financially by pursuing a career in the private sector.

I'd say the hell with it and head out if I were you.

As it stands right now, they can work as hard or as little as they want and the salary schedule remains the same, with no opportunity for bonuses or advancement beyond seniority.

And as long as the unions are involved that is all it will ever be. I just have a big issue with public sector unions. I also have an issue with freaking school admin literally making more than doctors in my area on the tax payer dime doing literally nothing other than pushing papers near as I can tell because other government agencies have requirements. So in that regard I am worried that government waste would continue, but it would just be 10 admin and 2 teachers if the unions were gone.

I honestly think vouchers would make it better. The left hates them because it will kill the unions and they know it. I like them because if you have a rocking great school you should have no problem getting kids to attend it. It will be in demand and hopefully the teachers will make good money with less admin. However, then the left will start screaming about all the bad teachers in up in the poor areas.

I don't exactly have a fix. But as it stands right now as you mentioned there is 0 incentive to do any hard work in the union system. If that was gone maybe you run into nepotism issues. Anything that gets "free" government money has these issues. You can motivate people through reward or punishment and the union system neither really applies. And it isn't like the schools are going to shut down.

A bit off topic I support private unions though. The end all there is the company goes belly up. In Chitown and that situation it might be the state/city getting bankrupted.