Education Funding Report Roundup

Teacher Pay

“Illinois’ Teacher Pension Plans Deepen School Funding Inequities”
By Liana Loewus — August 29, 2017 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Teachers who work at high-poverty schools and with mostly students of color are paid less than their peers at affluent schools with mostly white students—but the disparity is worse than people think, argues a new paper from Bellwether Education Partners, a Washington-based consulting firm, because retirement contributions are often left out of analyses of what it costs to employ a teacher.

Researchers looked at 10 years of data on the salaries and pensions of Illinois educators and then compared those to student demographics. “After accounting for teacher pensions, the disparity in school-level-personnel expenditures between high- and low-poverty schools increases dramatically,” found the report. That pattern was also true when looking at race: Schools with the highest percentages of black and Hispanic students put less money toward teacher retirement. When pensions were added to an analysis of Illinois school funding, the gaps between high- and low-poverty schools increased by more than 200 percent.

A version of this article appeared in the August 30, 2017 edition of Education Week as Teacher Pay

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reimagining Grading in K-12 Schools: A Conversation on the Value of Standards-Based Grading
Hear from K-12 educational leaders and explore standards-based grading benefits and implementation strategies and challenges
Content provided by Otus
Reading & Literacy Webinar How Background Knowledge Fits Into the ‘Science of Reading’ 
Join our webinar to learn research-backed strategies for enhancing reading comprehension and building cultural responsiveness in the classroom.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Innovative Strategies for Data & Assessments
Join our webinar to learn strategies for actionable instruction using assessment & analysis.
Content provided by Edulastic

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Funding A Surge in Funding for Homeless Students Is Waning. What Now?
COVID homeless aid helped schools locate more families and connect them to services. Advocates want to make the increase permanent.
3 min read
A young boy reaches into the open door of a school bus to grab a plastic bag of food handed to him by an adult.
A Jefferson County School District student receives several bags with free meals in Fayette, Miss.
Rogelio V. Solis/AP
Education Funding 4 Ways States Are Trying to Fix How They Fund Schools
Advocates in many places are pushing for reforms that precisely target more robust aid to schools and students in need.
6 min read
one woman and two men with a large calculator and next to large stacks of bills and coins.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Education Funding Pennsylvania School Funding Is Unconstitutional, Judge Says. Here's What Could Happen Next
An appeal could be on the way, but advocates are already gearing up to make the case for funding reform.
6 min read
Stock image of a gavel on top of a pile of money.
iStock/Getty Images
Education Funding 6 Lawsuits That Could Shake Up How States Pay for Schools
Far removed from annual budgets, these lawsuits hold the potential to force states to direct more funds to their schools.
6 min read
Large white hand holding a weighing scale with a bag of money on one side and books with floating letters on the other side showing a balance of knowledge and money
iStock/Getty