With the 2020 presidential election campaign now underway, education-policy proposals previously at the edge of the political debate are entering the mainstream. Support for increasing teacher pay is higher now than at any point since 2008, and a majority of the public favors more federal funding for local schools. Free college commands the…

Democrats and Republicans in Washington, D.C., are more polarized today than they have been in nearly a century. Among the general public, party identification remains the single most powerful predictor of people's opinions about a wide range of policy issues. Given this environment, reaching consensus on almost any issue of consequence would…

The ongoing global financial crisis is forcing many employers, from General Motors to local general stores, to take a hard look at the costs of the compensation packages they offer employees. For public school systems, this will entail a consideration of fringe benefit costs, which in recent years have become an increasingly important component of…

Most people express strong opinions about public education. Only a few know the basic facts about the public schools: (1) how much they spend; (2) how well teachers are paid; and (3) what schools can and cannot do. What happens when the public learns the facts about schools and deliberates responsibly about public education? A series of…

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…

Argues that if one considers fringe and retirement benefits and the number of hours worked during the year, teachers are not underpaid relative to other professions. Teachers are well paid because of union influence and to compensate them for working in unpleasant environments. Calls for more use of vouchers and more charter schools to reduce…

For today's public school teachers, unlike most professionals, years employed rather than performance determines where they work, how much they are paid, and whether they can be fired. To achieve professionalism teachers will need to jettison the tactics of industrial-style unionism in favor of organizations more like the medieval guilds. (MLF)

In the flurry of activity surrounding the implementation of No Child Left Behind's (NCLB) student proficiency mandates, the federal requirement to have a "highly qualified" teacher in every classroom by 2005 seemed like an impossible goal. However, 2005 has come and gone and the highly qualified teacher crisis never happened. In this…

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…

Research reveals that teachers' working conditions are more likely to determine whether they stay at a school--or even in the profession--than are their salaries. Results suggest that policymakers ought to consider selective pay increases, preferably keyed to quality, for work in inner-city schools, together with efforts to improve the working…

The long economic boom enabled school districts nationwide to fund expensive reforms and hefty pay raises. Now, however, they are finding it nearly impossible to cut costs and balance their budgets. The specific path to financial distress is unique in each case. Any number of factors, from excessively generous concessions at the bargaining table…