'Weak teachers' should not be given pay rises, the head of the schools watchdog said on Thursday.
Sir Michael Wilshaw, chief inspector of Ofsted warned that heads should only be rewarding committed and hard working staff.
And he suggested that good teachers are "irritated" when their under-performing colleagues are given the same financial incentives.
Teachers see their pay rise, on average, by around £1,800 a year if they are judged to be performing well enough against a set threshold.
But in some circumstances it can leap by up to £5,000 a year.
For example, an inner London secondary school teacher who takes on extra responsibility, such as becoming a head of department or head of year, could see their salary increase from around £36,000 to £41,500.
Speaking at an RSA event on satisfactory schools in central London today, Sir Michael suggested that 92-93% of teachers go through the threshold.
"But 40% of lessons are less than good," he said.
Sir Michael, who took up his post as chief inspector last month, told the audience: "Teaching is a noble profession. The thing that irritates good teachers, people who work hard and go the extra mile, is seeing the people that don't do that being rewarded.
"Headteachers and governors should worry about performance management more than they have been doing."
He added: "I know from my own experience that heads need to performance manage their staff properly This means only promoting and increasing the pay of those who are committed, teach well and show the desire and capacity to improve.
"It means not rewarding everyone indiscriminately.
"I want Ofsted to focus more sharply on how well heads are doing this."