Stephen A. Schwarzman (of Blackstone) was at the Canadian Club of Toronto today, talking about life, finance and his new book, What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence. I haven't read it yet. But thanks to today, I now have a copy and I am confident it will probably be excellent.
One thing that I really appreciated were his comments around teachers. Education is paramount. And yet US schools (K-12) are falling behind the rest of the world. (China has supposedly integrated computer science education across the board.) His recommendation: Pay teachers more and don't charge them income tax.
Why no tax? Because it would signal to the rest of society just how important teachers are. Maybe that's exactly the right solution or maybe it's not. Either way, it feels directionally right, and there's no question that teachers are some of the most important people on the planet.
If you're interested in this topic, you may also be interested in this startup. They offer down payment assistance to "essential professionals," such as teachers.
