Charter schools see as many as one in four teachers leave annually, and recent evidence attributes much of this turnover to provisions affected by collective bargaining processes and state laws such as salary, benefits, job security, and working hours. There have been many recent efforts to improve teacher voice in charter schools (Kahlenberg…

Policymakers know that improving teaching in our schools requires a systemic look at many policies related to educator effectiveness. For example, teacher preparation programs need to be dramatically improved and strengthened, but without accompanying reform in compensation, even highly effective and innovative schools of education are unlikely to…

First it was changes to pay, then evaluation systems, and then tenure laws. Now, lawmakers in several states are challenging collective bargaining, the foundation of teacher unionism. Leaders in Idaho, Indiana, and Tennessee are proposing bills that would limit what, if anything, teachers' unions could negotiate. None of the proposals has yet…

In the 1980s, school districts dabbled with programs that offered teachers cash inducements, such as bonuses or raises, for doing their jobs well. But those merit-pay programs were mostly short-lived, hotly debated, and understudied. Even after all this time, no one knows definitively whether children learn more when teachers are paid extra for…

Although states have maintained a focus on recruiting and retaining teachers, many schools and districts still face daunting challenges in ensuring a qualified and competent teaching corps. It is particularly difficult for schools considered hard to staff-those with high concentrations of low-performing, low-income students; high teacher turnover;…

"Service Plus" was designed as a pilot program to employ teachers in Bedford County, Tennessee over the summer to supplement their income and to develop services the community needed. Operating every summer since 1984, the program has provided employment to teachers in positions in the local human services, parks and recreation, juvenile…

This paper highlights selected key findings and discusses several issues emerging from an extended case study of the development and operation of a statewide teacher career ladder enacted into law in Tennessee in 1984. Data for the study were gathered through interviews, observations, elimination of documents, and a survey of selected teachers.…

This article discusses what a Tennessee experiment tells about merit pay. Though the dramatic effects that teachers have on student achievement are indisputable, the exact ingredients of effective teaching are anything but settled. Questions about how to value experience, education, certification, and pedagogical skills---the big four of teacher…

Tennessee's master plans for education would create four professional levels of employment for teachers and administrators in that state. The plan is described, arguments for and against it are summarized, and a counterproposal of the Tennessee Education Association is given. (PP)