Study Finds Teachers Are Losing Ground On Salary Front

Teachers' salaries have slipped over the past decade to well below those of comparable professions, a trend that is certain to complicate efforts to recruit and retain highly qualified educators for the nation's public schools, asserts a report released last week by the Economic Policy Institute.

The report, "How Does Teacher Pay Compare?: Methodological Challenges and Answers," joins a number of conflicting salary studies in recent years—including ones suggesting that when teachers’ benefits and work hours are figured in their pay compares favorably with that in other professions requiring similar levels of knowledge and skills.

But the new study, which is based on data and methods different from those of previous analyses, contends that its conclusions reflect the...