The importance of good teachers is no secret.

Study after study shows that the single most important factor determining the quality of education a child receives is the quality of his or her teacher.

Common sense should dictate that schools with the highest need would get the most funding and teachers who are most qualified to tackle the challenges those schools have. In fact, the opposite is true.

But the sad reality is that the best teachers rarely end up at schools where they are needed most.

Expert teachers play a critical role in improving student learning, and there is a national plan to spread the best among the rest.

The U.S. Department of Education’s 50-state strategy is expected to become an integral part of the No Child Left Behind Act that has been up to now mostly ignored: the uneven distribution of the country’s highly qualified teachers.

According to an education department release last week, 33 states and the District of Columbia so far have plans to “ensure equitable access to excellent educators.”

In “A Renewed Focus on Teacher Training,” The Atlantic says that the program’s primary goal is to ensure student access to quality teachers regardless of the students’ race, ethnicity, household income, or any of the other factors that have too often come to determine the quality of education provided to children across the nation.

We have to create a sense of urgency about ensuring that every child in every school has a quality teacher. There is overwhelming evidence that an effective teacher makes all the difference in the classroom.

“All parents understand that strong teaching is fundamental to strong opportunities for their children.,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in a statement. “We as a country should treat that opportunity as a right that every family has — regardless of race, ethnicity or national origin, zip code, wealth, or first language."