While serving as the primary vehicle for reporting the results of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) annual survey of state departments of education, this report also relies on several other data sources. Data include national average salaries or earnings for teachers, other school employees, government workers, and professional employees…

In January 2010, the General Assembly passed the Complete College Tennessee Act (CCTA), a comprehensive reform agenda that seeks to transform public higher education through changes in academic, fiscal and administrative policies at the state and institutional level. While the higher education landscape has been shaped by the CCTA, higher…

President Obama and congressional leaders have vowed to take action this year on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), most recently reauthorized and rebranded as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. While most observers remain skeptical that everyone will actually see a signing ceremony in 2011, it does appear likely that at least…

In late 1999, philanthropist Susie Buffett wanted to make the smartest possible investment to improve public education in her hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. She and her then-foundation president, Dan Pedersen, spoke with Superintendent John Mackiel regarding how he would choose to use private funds to enhance opportunities for Omaha's 46,000…

The Educational Research Service annually reports an important statistical measure, the Composite Indicator of Changes in Average Salaries and Wages Paid by Public School Systems (CIC), which is designed to reflect overall changes in average salaries and wages paid by school systems in much the same way that the Dow Jones Average or the Standard…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Yes He Will?: Campaign Details Suggest That Obama Presidency Will Make Education Reform a High Priority; (2) A New Way Forward…

A study compared faculty salaries at the University of Maryland at College Park (UMCP) with those at other institutions. The data were drawn from the fiscal year 1991 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System survey, "Salary, Tenure, and Fringe Benefits of Full-Time Instructional Faculty", and the data for UMCP were compared with…

After years of non-stop increases--national k-12 per-pupil spending is up by "one-third" in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1995--schools now face the near-certainty of repeated annual budget cuts for the first time since the Great Depression. In some states and districts, reductions will be dramatic--well into the double digits. And…

Policy makers confronted with the need to introduce health and safety regulations often wonder how to value the benefits of these regulations. One way that a monetary value could be placed on reductions in health risks, including risk of death, is through understanding how people are compensated for the different risks they take. While there is an…

Providing administrators and policy makers with reliable comparative data, this 1983-84 survey of salaries and wages of school employees focuses on 23 professional positions in 1,217 school systems, reporting separate figures for large, medium, small, and very small school systems. Data are also reported on five levels of per pupil expenditures…

Outlines the legal implications of comparable worth and recent court cases involving equal pay isues. Points out that where jobs are comparable and wages disparate without justification, courts have found employers guilty of wage discrimination. (MD)

Five comparative data traps repeatedly come up during school negotiation sessions: (1) average salary comparisons; (2) vague salary comparisons; (3) low master's guide; (4) considering salary only; and (5) comparing benefits. Provides examples and outlines a defense against these data traps. (MLF)

A study was done comparing faculty salaries at the University of Maryland at College Park (UMCP) with those at other similar institutions for fall 1991. The data were drawn from the fiscal year 1992 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System survey, "Salary, Tenure, and Fringe Benefits of Full-Time Instructional Faculty," and the…

A salary-schedule compression is the process of reducing the number of salary schedule steps while still giving annual salary increases. Explains what school districts can do during negotiations to compress a schedule without awarding greater increases than originally intended. A sidebar shows a table for relating years of teaching experience to…

In January 2010, the General Assembly passed the Complete College Tennessee Act (CCTA), a comprehensive reform agenda that seeks to transform public higher education through changes in academic, fiscal and administrative policies at the state and institutional level. At the center of these reforms is the need for more Tennesseans to be better…