Scott Sumner has an interesting piece on Japense corporations.

Many Japanese corporations are defined by: “lifetime employment system (which increasingly excludes younger workers), rigid promotion by rank and tenure, and fixed pay scales.”

Sound familiar?

Sumner ends on this:

“So far no one has figured out how to achieve a dynamic modern economy without rewarding merit.”

This is true.

What is also true is that Japan demonstrates how law, culture, and tradition can make it very difficult to bring about societal change.

Unfortunately, given where we’re at right now, it will not be easy to create scalable labor environments where educators can thrive.

My hope is that giving educators a choice of where to work is a good starting point.

Doug Lemov previously wrote:  “In short, more choice would likely lead to higher teacher satisfaction.”

I think that Doug is right.