Teacher shortages, while they have existed for decades, have reached crisis level for K-12 schools in all types of districts, with acute needs in certain geographic regions and teaching areas. Decades of research on the drivers of teacher shortages point to many contributing factors, including declining enrollment in teacher preparation programs, negative perceptions of the profession, barriers to certification, and unsustainable working conditions — but low pay is the one constant.
Teacher salaries are persistently low compared to salaries in similarly credentialed professions and have not kept pace with the increasing demands on these specialized professionals. Traditional teacher compensation models are typically inflexible and too complex to change due to historical inequities in education funding models and the localization of salary structures. This Teacher Compensation Collection was developed to surface these challenges and find, articulate, and share with states and school districts creative ideas that could lead to larger solutions.
Now is the Time to Increase Teacher Compensation. Insights From Sabrina Laine, Former Chief Program Officer at WestEd
In the first in the Money Matters: Conversations About Teacher Compensation Series, Sabrina Laine, former Chief Program Officer at WestEd, describes why the first step in solving these shortages should be increasing teacher compensation.
Busting the Myths About Teacher Compensation and the Teaching Profession
In this blog post, the second in the Money Matters: Conversations About Teacher Compensation Series, Gretchen Weber and Ellen Sherratt address some of the myths around teachers’ compensation.
The Case for Differentiated Staffing in the Classroom
By Kate Wright and Gretchen Weber
In this blog post, the third in the Money Matters: Conversations About Teacher Compensation Series, WestEd’s Kate Wright and Gretchen Weber discuss differentiated staffing, its benefits, and possible barriers to implementation.
Increasing Teacher Compensation: How Do We Foot the Bill?
By Dana Grayson and Jason Willis
In this blog post, WestEd’s Dana Grayson Chambers and Jason Willis walk through two approaches that can help implement and sustain increased teacher compensation.
Spotlight on Growing and Sustaining Our Teacher Workforce
This Spotlight Blog features resources designed to support state, school, and district systems to increase teacher compensation, improve working conditions, and utilize evidence-based practices for recruiting and retaining teachers.
Spotlight on Teacher Compensation Reforms: Insights and Innovations from State and District Leaders
This recorded webinar features a panel of state and district leaders from across the country who have been tackling this issue on the ground to learn about how they have engaged the public, explored approaches to redesigning salary structures, and considered approaches to raising revenue or expense tradeoffs to cover the cost.
Teacher Compensation: Busting the Myths and Generating Dialogue
By Ellen Sherratt
With research that dispels five common myths about teacher compensation, this resource can help to foster constructive dialogue about teacher salaries that is grounded in evidence.
Teacher Compensation Reform Decision Guide
By Celine Coggins
This guide helps state and district leaders plan and collaborate with interested parties to elevate teacher compensation by facilitating a structured conversation about vision, community engagement, data, effective processes, and finance concerns.
Delaware Public Education Compensation Committee: Final Recommendations
By Delaware Department of Education
The Public Education Compensation Committee addressed the state’s educator recruitment and retention challenges by reviewing Delaware’s compensation structure and recommending a new framework that would make the state more competitive. WestEd, in partnership with with the Delaware Department of Education, supported this work by providing facilitation and project management, as well as collecting and analyzing data to inform the committee’s deliberations and final recommendations, as explored in this report.
Talking Teacher Compensation: Experts Weigh In
WestEd launched the Teacher Compensation Initiative in November 2022 with a Washington, DC Roundtable of experts in policy, practice, and research, who met to discuss education funding, teacher compensation, and teacher shortages. Listen to what they have to say.
David Griffith
Emily Cunningham
Kareem Neal
Celine Goggins
Sherri Ybarra
Craig Statucki
Nicholas Ferroni
Nicholas Munyan-Penney