Teacher Pay Reforms: The Political Implications of Recent Research
Center for American Progress
December 2006
Dan Goldhaber
Based on a review of what we know about teacher pay and reform, this paper argues that pay reform holds promise, and offers recommendations for those who wish to see teacher pay reforms successfully implemented.
Pay is certainly not the only way to manage a workforce, but it is one of the primary policy tools that school systems have at their disposal. Strict adherence to the traditional single-salary schedule strips school districts of a key managerial tool. Although the available research on teacher compensation reform is hardly definitive enough to recommend the use of specific pay reforms to reach specific goals, the few quantitative studies that do exist suggest that a more strategic use of teacher compensation could lead to both a more equitable allocation of teachers among students and increased student achievement.
