In a Room for Debate forum in June on the value of liberal arts master’s degrees, one group of readers — teachers and education administrators — generally agreed a higher degree was well worth the investment. They pointed out that pay and promotion in public schools were tied to the accumulation of such credentials and credits, specifically from colleges of education.
But current teacher training has a large chorus of critics, including prominent professors in education schools themselves. For example, the director of teacher education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Katherine Merseth, told a conference in March that of the nation’s 1,300 graduate teacher training programs, only about 100 were doing a competent job and “the others could be shut down tomorrow.” And Obama administration officials support a shift away from using master’s degrees for pay raises, and a shift toward compensating teachers based on children’s performance.
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[Read the complete article at http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/education-degrees-and-teachers-pay/?8ty&emc=ty%5D
Why's Words 
after 40 years practising education I fear that much of these comments miss the point. There are certain things which a good teacher needs and which need sifting out early in his/her training. (1) Empathy for children however difficult the home has made them, (2) an ability to present themselves as an actor or actress upon the stage, holding the attention of the audience, (3) an insatiable curiosity for ANYTHING in life [ I call my brain a dustbin of information], (4) according to whatever level the teaching is to be undertaken then the academic attainment of the teacher must be able to match it, (5) and finally, there should be an honourable way out or a chance of re-training for the teacher who is bored but does not want to give up. I am delighted to have seen that so many excellent enterprises have been started and successfully brought to fruition by ex-teachers, for example the founder of Beauty Shop chain.