Salaries & Benefits
Education news, analysis, and opinion about pay and benefits for school and district employees
See also: Performance Pay, Retirement & Pensions, Unions, Teaching Profession
Teacher Pay, Explained: Salary, Benefits, and Pensions
Learn how teachers are compensated, and the role that states and districts play in setting pay.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Should Certification Require a Master's Degree?
In my last post, I asked whether a Master's degree is worth the tens of thousands of dollars in tuition, time, and opportunity cost, given that it doesn't correlate with better teaching performance.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Is a Master's Degree Worth $30,000?
Should a Master's degree be part of the teacher certification process, and what role should it play in compensation, if any?
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Go Teach, Young Man: Tweaking Risk and Reward to Recruit Male Teachers
How do we attract more top-performing male teachers to the profession, and what role does compensation play?
Recruitment & Retention
Opinion
Is Your HR Department on the Leading- or Bleeding-edge?
I received an email earlier this week that immediately caught my eye. The tag line said, "Why it's time for HR to quit being so wimpy." I am always interested in new, innovate, and strategic ways to approach HR, so I had to check it out.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Rethinking Teacher Compensation
Teacher pension systems need a significant overhaul, write Laura Overdeck, Arthur Levine, and Christopher Daggett.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
Education, Not the Economy, Is the Most Important Issue
If you live in a battleground state like I do, you are bombarded with television and radio ads for President Obama and Governor Romney. It does not take long to determine that 75 percent of these ads are blasting the opponent for causing some economic condition. Obama is responsible for unemployment of over 8 percent. Romney is responsible for outsourcing American jobs. It goes on and on ad nauseam.
Recruitment & Retention
Opinion
Driving Miss Daisy - Away
As we find ways to attract top talent in the profession we must also find ways to keep them there!
Families & the Community
Opinion
The Impact of Top Teaching Talent
Watch this video of a talk by a top teacher
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
WANTED: 'Irreplaceables'
On July 30, The New Teacher Project (TNTP) released a report called "The Irreplaceables," which looks at teachers who are "so successful they are nearly impossible to replace, but who too often vanish from schools as the result of neglect and inattention." The full report is available on TNTP's website. Information below is quoted directly and the sources of the quotes noted.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Reactions to Starting Teacher Salary of $100,000
People reacting to a $100,000 starting salary for teachers.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Understanding FMLA and Its Impact on Education Policy
If you took a poll of professionals in America, most would probably say they have heard of the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, but a much smaller number could actually tell you what it does and how it impacts them. In fact, I have worked with numerous people during my career who had never heard of the program.
School & District Management
States' Costs Skyrocket on Master's Degree Pay for Teachers
In 2007-08, states spent an estimated $14.8 billion rewarding teachers for earning master's degrees.
Teaching Profession
For Teachers, Why Does 'Moving Up' Mean 'Moving Out'?
Ariel Sacks recalls an interesting exchange from the day she went down to the district office to submit her materials for her very first teaching job:
School Climate & Safety
Report: Make Improving Teacher Working Conditions a Priority
To boost teacher retention and student achievement at high-poverty schools, states and districts must first look to improve working conditions for teachers, concludes a new report by The Education Trust, a Washington-based nonprofit group. The report profiles five school districts that have focused efforts on bettering teacher support and development—specifically by strengthening leadership and encouraging professional collaboration—and have shown promising or positive gains as a result.