Under the School Improvement and Accountability Act (SIAA) of 1989, North Carolina school districts developed plans for educational improvement. During the 1989-90 school year, 134 school districts developed responses to the SIAA, and all included differentiated teacher salary/pay plans. These pay plans are analyzed, and several generalizations…

Since 1946, four major efforts to improve educational outcomes through shifts in governance have occurred in North Carolina. The 1989 reforms were characterized by an increase in rhetoric about local control and initiatives, teacher involvement, and school-based management. This paper surveys the last 50 years of educational reform policy in North…