Americans love their teachers. This may surprise you given the current media storm surrounding public education. Yet 71 percent of Americans said, when asked in this year’s PDK/Gallup poll of the “Public’s Attitudes toward the Public Schools,” that they have trust and confidence in the men and women who teach in the public schools.

The McKinsey & Co. report, “Closing the Talent Gap: Attracting and Retaining Top-Third Graduates to Careers in Teaching,” is wrong. Fortunately, the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) presents a much better alternative: a forward-looking approach to attracting and retaining great educators that recognizes the intrinsic rewards great employees crave and deserve.