Working Conditions Trump Pay

When it comes to retaining teachers, studies suggest that the circumstances of their jobs may matter even more than their salaries.

By Debra Viadero

As a high-profile former teacher-of-the-year in his part of the state, North Carolina middle school teacher William Ferriter sometimes gets flak for continuing to work in a relatively affluent, high-performing school rather than one plagued by poverty and academic problems.

It’s not that he isn’t open to the idea, says Ferriter, who is an education activist and blogger as well as a veteran teacher. He once taught in a low-performing, high-poverty school, and he would do it again if the working conditions were right. That is, if he could find a school where teachers had the administrative support, the resources, and the freedom they needed to succeed.

“It’s difficult to be able to walk into a class knowing the working conditions that I need to be successful with a high-need population aren’t there,” he says. After all, why set...