Implement a system that would standardize teacher pay across the nation.

I ask that a system be implemented that would standardize teacher pay across the nation. I feel that part of the reason education lags so far behind in certain regions of the United States has a great deal to do with how teachers are compensated. I am not asking that teachers be paid extravagantly, only that they be paid on a level similar to other professionals with similar levels of education, and that this system be implemented nationwide. This system should be based on the cost of living by region or state, because I realize it is more expensive to live in California than it might be in Georgia or Maryland.