A New Teacher-Pay System Could Better Support Reform

By Carolyn Kelley

Education, like the private sector, is facing growing pressure to improve bottom-line results. Yet, while many companies are changing their pay structures to reinforce workplace reforms, most teachers are still being paid based on a 75-year-old salary structure that may be due for retirement.

Early in the 20th century, opposition to overt discrimination and demand for greater teacher skills led to the current single-salary schedule, which pays the same salary to teachers with the same qualifications regardless of grade level taught, gender, or race. Appearing first in Denver and Des Moines in 1921, and in nearly all urban districts by 1950, the schedule pays differentials based on years of experience, educational units, and educational degrees.

The single-salary schedule was appropriate for schools of the first half of this century. Administrators were responsible for goals, objectives, and school success, and teachers were responsible mainly for delivering a standardized...