That would be a great idea. I hope Gov. Schwarzenegger can get some sort of his plan to pass, whether through the statehouse or through the ballot box.
The only minor problem with determining who the good teachers are, based on test scores, is that some teachers are burdened with bad students. A 5th grade teacher in a heavily Hispanic school in east Los Angeles told me she had students who could not read or perform simple addition. If a student cannot master 1st grade topics, why is he the responsibility of a 5th grade teacher who ought to be teaching subjects on the 5th grade level, and why must other children suffer if the teacher must teach remedial lower grade lessons? If the child fails an aptitude test, will only the 5th grade teacher be responsible, or will the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade teachers share in the culpability?
Maybe teachers should stay with a class of students for a few years. If a student fails to learn something one year, the teacher must make the extra effort to ensure the student learns (or must fail the student), instead of just "passing the buck" to promote the student to the next higher grade without the skills he needs to learn at that level.
I'm not a fan of public schools, but opening records on performance standards and achievement would be an improvement.