Yes, absolutely.
It is necessary to increase the status and benefits of teachers to attract better people to teaching, so yes.
That's really crucial, especially when you consider what the job market looks like for PhD holders these days!
PhD? What kind of teacher need a PhD, is a American PhD worth a lot less than I thought it was?
While I personal prefer a specialised teacher education
The value of an American PhD is dependent entirely on where it is from. Don't be so smug as to assume they are all equally worthless. My point was that teaching, especially in a good district, beats pissing around with unstable adjunct work, post docs, and the like. You're right, a high school teacher does not need a PhD, although it's been known to happen, and certainly in areas like administration and counseling (they like for principals to have these although it's not required).
Masters degrees are all but required these days, and from what I hear from those who know is that preference in hiring is given to people who already have them. I don't know about ghetto schools, though. They may well assume that an already highly educated person won't last but a couple days or a week, and they're probably right.
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