More Floridians choose increasing teacher pay over other options when asked what should be a top education priority, according to a new poll released yesterday by Leadership Florida.

Given eight choices, 31 percent of respondents picked "increased teacher pay to attract & retain the best teachers." Twenty percent picked "more accountability & better management of financial resources." Only 12 percent picked "reduce class size."

Does better teacher pay mean across the board or for top performers? That's not entirely clear. But when respondents were asked whether they support basing a teacher's pay on his or her students' progress, 40 percent said yes and 58 percent said no.

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