Hanushek recently did a back-of-the-envelope calculation about what even a rudimentary focus on teacher quality could mean for the United States.

NEWYORKER: Most Likely to Succeed

But voters increasingly see Democrats as beholden to teachers' unions and the status quo, says Eric Hanushek, an education expert at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

ECONOMIST: Conservative education reform

Peer-reviewed studies by Eric Hanushek of Stanford University have considered the effect of eliminating the worst teachers by replacing these teachers with average teachers.

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