Merit pay plan for best teachers

STUDENTS and parents will help allocate large pay rises to the best teachers in a Federal Government plan to raise academic standards in public schools.

The performance-based shake-up is likely to start from 2009, and the Government is prepared to "strike out on its own" if the states refuse to co-operate.

The federal Minister for Education, Julie Bishop, wants teachers to be assessed on the improvement of their students over the year. The aim is for the best teachers to benefit most, especially at disadvantaged schools.