Concerned that low salaries are driving good teachers out of the teaching profession, the Tennessee state board of education has decided to establish an ad hoc study committee to determine, “as objectively as possible,” how much public-school teachers in the state should be paid.
The committee members will be “taxpayers not directly associated with education,” according to the de-partment of education. They will study differences in the salaries paid for teaching and for a broad range of other occupations, taking into account the amount of training required and the average number of hours worked.
The committee will discuss the situation with teachers, officials of professional education organizations, and local school boards before issuing its final recommendation.
