“Billionaire Bill Gates also took aim at school budgets and the master’s degree bonus.”

“‘My own state of Washington has an average salary bump of nearly $11,000 for a master’s degree — and more than half of our teachers get it. That’s more than $300 million every year that doesn’t help kids,’ he said.”

“As of 2008, 48 percent of public school teachers in the United States had a master’s degree or above, and most got a bonus of between $1,423 and $10,777 each year, according to research at the University of Washington.”

“Michael Podgursky, an economics professor at the University of Missouri, said the economic downturn may force payroll reform in some places where the political will has been lacking. And they don’t have to blow up the old system to do it, he said.”