At its heart are the National Education Association's "Status of the American Public School Teacher" surveys, which are conducted every five years and offer unprecedented insights into the professional lives and experiences of teachers nationwide. This volume analyzes and summarizes the survey's findings, while also offering commentaries…

While Michigan students learn a variety of skills in their time at school, perhaps the most important charge of public schools, beyond providing a safe and healthy environment, is to ensure that students are learning their three fundamental skills: reading, writing and arithmetic. Unfortunately, the achievement levels of Michigan public school…

The state of teacher evaluation is a significantly and frequently neglected problem in public education, an enterprise that spends $400 billion annually on salaries and benefits. Because teacher evaluation is at the center of the quality of teaching in the nation's classrooms, it has the potential to be a powerful lever of teacher and school…

Levine notes that education has declined as a national priority. He appeals to the next U.S. president to champion quality education in America, addressing the achievement gap by focusing on teachers. He urges that the nation dignify the teaching profession, restoring its prestige through the equivalent of a Rhodes Scholarship program for teachers…

Six suggestions for improving education in the country are offered. The case is made first that unless children's health care is improved, educational achievement among the poor will not improve. The second point is that poverty limits school achievement as well. Without work on these two issues, neither the nation nor the nation's schools will be…

Despite nearly two decades of commissions, analyses, op-eds and speeches, a series of court rulings, legislative changes, and the expenditure of billions of dollars, Ohio still does not have a school funding system that delivers the results the Buckeye State needs. Student achievement still remains low for the globalizing world that young Ohioans…

This paper provides a synthesis of literature pertaining to differentials in earnings between male and female teachers at the elementary, secondary, and higher levels of education. In addition to sex discrimination, other factors of unequal compensation are examined, some of which include teaching experience, educational preparation, teacher…

By increasing salaries, raising hiring standards, improving working conditions, and giving teachers more professional status, public education will greatly improve the quality of its teachers, but the best will not be attracted until base salaries are above $30,000 or other means are found to bring top scholars into the field. (MSE)

In this article, the author discusses how, despite of the advances in today's technology, the way children are educated now is remarkably similar to how they were educated decades ago. More than any other modern-day institution, schooling is nearly impervious to change. He notes that America's "old school design" is not working with high degree of…

Suggests three priorities and four goals for education. Priorities: literacy, basic mathematics, and citizenship education. Goals: high school graduates will have four years of English and three years of math, science, and social studies; graduates will surpass SAT/ACT scores of 1965; dropout rate will decrease; and entry-level teachers' salaries…

Argues that two of the major causes of the current state of public education are the nature of teacher education and the strength of teachers' unions. His solutions include parental control of schools, academic requirements, abolishing tenure and credentialism, merit pay for teachers, and dismissal of incompetent teachers. (SK)

The importance of education for prosperity is beyond dispute. A nation or a state whose people are educated and industrious will prosper. Such social forces as the rise of private schooling, disenchantment with public education, and the aging of the population drain public education of its support. If educational quality has a cost, the…

Discusses Florida and California court decisions on whether collective bargaining agreements negotiated by public university faculty unions are subject to subsequent appropriation of funds by the state legislature. Compares state statutes to ascertain the extent of collective bargaining rights afforded to faculty in public higher education.…

Presents two views on merit pay. One suggests that the single salary schedule does not suit today's reform environment, explaining how to align teacher compensation with current educational policy. The other notes that the single salary schedule does not let public school managers adjust teachers' pay to reflect performance and market realities,…

A professional economist criticizes Gerald Bracey's view that the condition of public education has little to do with the state of the nation's economy. Most studies indicate that education contributes to growing productivity, higher wages, and a sound economy. Education can serve the nation's economic needs without sacrificing education's other…