A new commission, involving government, business and education leaders, has assigned the nation's school students their newest homework assignment.

The Teaching Commission, a non-profit group formed in 2003 with the goal of improving public education, says standardized tests should serve an additional purpose -- determining teacher salaries.

If that happens, the salaries of public school teachers would depend significantly on the performance of their students on standardized tests.

Pennsylvania's previous administration had considered paying teachers according to their students' performance, but Gov. Ed Rendell's administration has not discussed it, said Bethany Yenner, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Shelley Laczynski (senior-secondary education) is not sure the commission's recommendation is such a good idea.

"I think it puts a lot of pressure on the teaching profession. I think a lot of people are going to be turned away or they're going to want to turn away from the teaching profession," Laczynski said.

The Teaching Commission's suggestions also do not coincide with the education philosophies of Christine and Elizabeth Sweger (juniors-secondary education).

"I think having incentives, especially monetary ones, discourages people from doing their natural best," Christine Sweger said.

The commission's report suggests increasing all salaries by 10 percent and those of the top half of teachers -- measured by evaluations and student performance -- by 30 percent. Traditionally, salaries are based on education and experience.

The current system "does nothing to reward excellence because all teachers, regardless of effort or performance, get the same automatic pay increases," according to the commission's report.

But offering teachers incentives for their students to improve standardized test scores will have more negative effects on public education than positive ones, she added.

"It's a whole lot of pressure for the kids too," Christine Sweger said, explaining that students who understand the system may feel pressure to do well on tests.

Connecting a student's academic performance to an individual teacher is subjective in a high school setting where students have several teachers during the day, said Craig Butler, principal of State College Area High School's North Building.

"I think it would force schools to become more data-driven and results-driven in terms of looking at the performance of each teacher's students. In a high school setting, that is problematic," Butler said. "The subjectivity and the room for errors and misjudgment I think is substantial when we're talking about people's jobs and livelihoods."

Basing salary raises on student test scores could prompt teachers to focus on covering material that appears on the standardized tests rather than meeting students' needs, Laczynski said.

"The teacher might be doing everything they can to have a successful year or class, but it's really up to the students," she said.

Requiring all teachers to hold degrees, and allowing teachers to continue their education while working would be more effective tools in improving education, Laczynski said.

Though pay-for-performance has merit in terms of improving public education, the approach is risky and needs more study, Butler said.

"What actual educators know is best for students. I think if we continue to push for that, everything will be OK," Laczynski said.

The 20-member commission includes former IBM Chairman Louis Gerstner and former first lady Barbara Bush.