Vivek Ramaswamy Drops Game-Changing Idea to Shake Up Public Education

Vivek Ramaswamy, biotech entrepreneur, and former presidential candidate, is turning heads in his race for governor of Ohio with a bold new education plan: implement merit-based pay for all public school teachers, principals, and administrators.

“Pay for performance. That’s what businesses do. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be running our public schools in the same way,” Ramaswamy said during his Hannity performance on Thursday night.

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Under his proposal, Ohio would become the first state in the nation to tie public educator salaries directly to performance—not tenure, seniority, or union-negotiated scales.

Instead, teachers would be reviewed through a combination of peer feedback, parental assessments, and student outcomes, with the goal of rewarding true excellence in the classroom.

“The best teachers in the country right now, sadly, are underpaid,” Ramaswamy said. “We need to fix that—but fix it through meritocracy.”

He also gave credit to former President Donald Trump for helping set the stage for this kind of reform. Earlier today, President Trump signed an Executive Order to return power over education to states and local communities. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated that this action aims to “empower states to take charge and advocate for and implement what is best for students, families, and educators in their communities.”

“Thanks to President Trump’s bold actions today, we can lead the way,” Ramaswamy said.

Teachers’ unions have fought against merit-based pay for years, claiming it’s too subjective or unfair. But for parents and taxpayers who are tired of watching excellence get buried under bureaucracy and seeing their children falling behind, the idea of rewarding great teachers—and holding underperformers accountable—simply makes sense.