Better Pay for Better Teaching Making Teacher Compensation Pay Off in the Age of Accountability

A key challenge facing education reformers is how to attract and retain talented people in the teaching profession. Research shows the impact that teacher quality has on student achievement and that our most economically disadvantaged students, those who need the most from their schools, are least likely to have the most qualified teachers. The fact is that while we have many great teachers who labor anonymously every day—often in the face of trying circumstances and without adequate support—we do not have enough. To help address this problem, the recent No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires all teachers to be " highly qualified " by the end of the 2005-06 school year. Meeting this challenging goal is a key component of addressing the achievement gap that adversely impacts too many poor and minority youngsters. However, without changes in how we compensate teachers accompanying the mandate in NCLB, many states and school districts will be unable to meet it. To help policymakers rise to the challenge, this paper by education analyst Bryan Hassel lays out the basis for a " grand bargain " : raise teacher salaries and modernize how we compensate teachers. Rejecting the false choice between raising teacher pay and reforming an archaic pay structure, Better Pay for Better Teaching instead offers a roadmap to doing both. As Dr. Hassel shows, there is not one best way to accomplish this, but rather an imperative for policymakers to innovate with various strategies. Hassel offers various options and considerations for policymakers. We wish to thank The Broad Foundation for their generous support of this paper and other ongoing education work at PPI. The Broad Foundation is a Los Angeles-based entrepreneurial grant-making organization, established in 1999 by Eli and Edythe Broad. The Foundation was started with an initial investment of $100 million that was recently increased by the Broad family to $400 million. The Foundation's mission is to dramatically improve K-12 urban public education through better governance, management, and labor relations. The 21st Century Schools Project at the Progressive Policy Institute develops public policies to modernize American schools and ensure that all students are prepared for success in the knowledge economy. Through research, publications, and work with national, state, and local policymakers, the Project supports initiatives to improve education by increasing accountability, equity, choice, and innovation in public education. The goals of the 21st Century Schools Project are a natural extension of …