What Different Benchmarks Suggest About How Financially Attractive it is to Teach in Public Schools
July 2004
Dan Goldhaber, Dan Player
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CRPE Working Paper #2003-2
This paper evaluates teacher salaries relative to other occupations, focusing on what the right comparisons are for teachers with different training and education experiences, and examines how financially attractive it is to teach in public schools for these individuals.
There is significant public policy concern that teacher salaries in the United States are insufficient to make teaching in public schools a financially attractive occupation, consequently limiting the number of high quality individuals who choose teaching as an occupation. This concern has been particularly acute of late, given that new research shows teacher quality to be the most important schooling variable influencing student achievement and that a combination of increasing student enrollments, an aging teacher workforce, and class size reduction policies have resulted in what is considered by some to be an imminent teacher shortage. Though the actual magnitude of the crisis is a subject of continuing debate, the perception of a teacher shortage may serve the important purpose of focusing public policy on the necessity of recruiting high quality teachers.
In response to the concerns about a teacher shortage, various policymakers and high profile reports have recommended an increase in teacher salaries. This is consistent with a widespread perception that teachers are poorly paid and have lost ground economically when compared to those employed in other occupations. Is this perception correct? The short answer is this: it depends on how teacher salaries are measured and to what they are compared. This paper evaluates teacher salaries relative to other occupations, focusing on what the right comparisons are for teachers with different training and education experiences. Based on these comparisons, we discuss how financially attractive it is to teach in public schools for individuals with different training and backgrounds.
