Allegretto, Sylvia A., Sean P. Corcoran, and Lawrence Mishel. “The Teaching Penalty: Teacher Pay Losing Ground.” Economic Policy Institute, 2008.
https://www.epi.org/publication/book_teaching_penalty/.
This Economic Policy Institute report argues that teachers earn significantly less than comparably educated professionals. This disparity is often called the “teacher pay penalty.” The report draws on national wage data (including
Census surveys and prior analyses) to compare teacher salaries with those of similar workers. It finds that by the early 2000s, teachers earned roughly 14% less than peers with equivalent education and experience. This is important
because it quantifies the extent of the teacher pay gap and shows how it grew in the late 1990s and early 2000s, informing debates on compensation and teacher quality.
In relation to the thesis, Allegretto et al. offer empirical evidence of teacher pay inequity over time. This helps explain the difficulties in recruiting and retaining qualified teachers. It also underscores the need to reform school
finance structures to promote educational equity.
Baker, Bruce D. “Educational Inequality and School Finance: Why Money Matters for America’s Students.” Harvard Education Press, 2018.
https://hep.gse.harvard.edu/9781682532423/educational-inequality-and-school-finance/.
Baker’s book argues that adequate and equitable funding (“money”) is essential for improving educational outcomes and reducing inequality in schools. He provides extensive longitudinal data and multiple case studies across states and
districts. He shows a “dismaying portrait” of stagnant public education investment and ongoing inequities in funding. This resource is significant because it challenges the belief that “money doesn’t matter,” revealing how underfunding
and disparities negatively affect student achievement and quality education.
For the thesis, Baker’s analysis highlights that school finance structures directly shape teacher resources (including salaries). It shows that increasing and distributing funds more fairly can improve teacher recruitment, retention,
and overall educational equity.
Baker, Bruce D., and Mark Weber. “State School Finance Inequities and the Limits of Pursuing Teacher Equity through Departmental Regulation.” Education Policy Analysis Archives, vol. 24, no. 47, 2016.
https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.24.2230.
Baker and Weber argue that federal mandates for equalizing access to qualified teachers are not enough if underlying state school finance systems remain inequitable. Through a multi-state analysis, they show that district-level spending
differences lead to disparities in teacher salary competitiveness and staffing levels. In states with larger funding gaps, wealthier districts can offer higher teacher salaries and more staff per pupil, while high-poverty districts
pay less and have fewer staff.
This work is significant because it highlights structural financial barriers to teacher equity. It suggests that simply reassigning teachers, as some regulations require, will have limited impact if school funding remains uneven. In
relation to the thesis, Baker and Weber show that inequitable school finance structures create teacher pay inequities and unequal distributions of experienced teachers, underscoring the need for funding reforms to improve teacher
recruitment, retention, and educational equity in high-need schools.
Brunner, Eric J., et al. “How Much Does Public School Facility Funding Depend on Property Wealth?” Education Finance and Policy, vol. 18, no. 1, 2023, pp. 25–51,
https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00346.
In this piece, the authors analyze how disparities in property wealth across California school districts shape unequal access to school facility funding. Based on data from 1986-2016, the authors found that in districts with greater
property wealth, the capital investment in school construction and modernization was significantly higher. This is because these districts are able to raise more revenue though general obligation bonds. Conversely, districts with
a higher proportion of disadvantaged students and students of color, who tend to live in areas with lower property values, receive much less in facility funding. As a result, this reinforces the system that allows wealthier districts
to maintain higher-quality education and infrastructure while under-funded districts continue to fall behind.
This article strengthens our argument regarding regional and policy driven disparities in education funding because it demonstrates how both operational funding and capital investment varies with wealth, which is often an overlooked
component of policy. While our research aims to focus on teacher salary disparities, this piece shows how wealth-dependent funding systems uncover material inequalities, which indirectly shape education environments and teacher resources
and salary.
The article uses state finance records and census and district level data, however, it is strictly focused on California. This is a major limitation as other states have different property tax structures or certain court ordered funding
mandates. However, this paper is still important in illustrating how local property wealth impacts educational opportunity, emphasizing the need for a reform on school finance systems.
Chin, Mark J., and Lena Shi. “Average and heterogeneous effects of political party on state education finance and outcomes: Regression discontinuity evidence across U.S. election cycles.” Economics of Education Review, vol. 105, Apr. 2025,
https://doi.org/102636.
Throughout this article Mark Chin and Lena Shi claim that when Democrats control the state houses they spend significantly less on K-12 education after a presidential election year, but significantly more in following years. They also
aim to connect heterogeneity to socio demographic differences in voters. They used longitudinal, state-level data on government spending, election results, educational outcomes, and sociodemographic characteristics as data. This
resource is important because it connects education funding to voter perspective and political affiliation. This resource provides our thesis with insight on how politics affects education funding. It will be valuable when considering
how to quantify political affiliation with education funding in different states.
Darling-Hammond, Linda, et al. “How Education Funding Matters: Lessons from NAEP, the Pandemic and Recovery Efforts.” Learning Policy Institute, 26 Feb. 2025,
learningpolicyinstitute.org/blog/how-education-funding-matters-lessons-naep-pandemic-and-recovery-efforts
This resource argues that money well organized and focused on need has a significant effect on education and student achievement. This is based on the performance of students during the pandemic and the effect of a Great Recession,
which had an extreme negative impact on funding for schools. This resource uses data from NAEP testing as well as additional data from other studies like one from the American economic journal (for data on the great recession). Additionally
some data from California’s 2013 school funding reform. This resource is important because it emphasizes the effect of covid and the pandemic, but also supplements the decline in student achievement based on a longer more substantial
economic issue. This resource supports our thesis because it has evidence that supports both the negative effects of the pandemic and the Great Recession. It directly relates improper funding with negative student outcomes which
supports our thesis.
Education Resource Strategies. Teacher Salaries: A Critical Equity Issue. Education Resource Strategies, 2023,
https://www.erstrategies.org/news/teacher-salaries-a-critical-equity-issue.
This report discusses how traditional teacher pay structures fail to equitably compensate educators in high-need areas. It emphasizes the need for strategic compensation reform to address educational disparities. As a practitioner-oriented
piece, it offers practical recommendations and supports the policy implications raised in scholarly research, bridging theory with actionable steps.
Gamoran, Adam, and Daniel A. Long. Equality of Educational Opportunity: A 40-Year Retrospective. Education Policy Analysis Archives, vol. 14, no. 15, 2006,
https://epaa.asu.edu/index.php/epaa/article/view/1053.
This article explores how persistent funding disparities contribute to unequal access to qualified teachers across districts. It argues that low-income schools struggle to attract and retain experienced educators due to inadequate
compensation and fewer resources. The study highlights structural funding issues as a key driver of educational inequality, making it a foundational source for understanding how teacher salary gaps reflect broader systemic problems.
García, E., and Han, E. S. “Teachers’ Base Salary and Districts’ Academic Performance: Evidence From National Data.” SAGE Open, 12(1), 2022.
https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221082138.
This study supports that there is a positive correlation between districts with higher teacher base pay and student performance in math and english assessments. The study draws upon nationally representative district-level data from
2009-2016 collected by the National Center for Education Statistics in addition to the annual Schools and Staffing Survey, and Stanford Education Data Archive. This resource is important because it seeks to examine the relationship
between two aspects of the education system (student performance and teacher pay) that are not often studied, potentially opening the door for education policy informing insights. This is informative to the thesis because it helps
establish a foundational understanding of how educator funding could impact student outcomes.
Hawksworth-Lutzow, Dylan, and Heather Rose. “The Impact of Large Revenue Infusions on Teacher Salaries in High-Poverty Districts.” Journal of Education Finance, vol. 49, no. 2, 2023, pp. 222–244.
https://doi.org/10.1353/jef.2023.a928650.
This study examines whether large increases in school funding lead high-poverty districts to raise teacher salaries. It focuses on California’s recent finance reform, which provided substantial new revenue to disadvantaged districts.
Using a difference-in-differences approach to compare salary trends, the authors find little evidence that high-poverty districts raised teacher pay beyond recovering from recession-era cuts. Those districts’ salaries rebounded at
roughly the same rate as low-poverty districts, showing no clear jump from the additional funds.
This work is important because it questions whether simply increasing a district’s revenue automatically lifts teacher salaries in high-need areas. It suggests that budget priorities and other constraints may limit pay improvements.
Relating to the thesis, Hawksworth-Lutzow and Rose highlight that when school finance reforms direct more money to poor districts, strategic policy decisions are necessary to use those funds for boosting teacher pay, which is vital
for attracting and retaining educators and enhancing educational equity.
Jackson, Kirabo. “The Benefits of Increased School Spending.” Northwestern Institute for Policy Research, Mar. 2017,
www.ipr.northwestern.edu/documents/policy-briefs/school-spending-policy-research-brief-Jackson.pdf .
This study examined the impact of increased spending on schools, especially for low-income students by comparing them with schools that do not have an increase in spending and by comparing the impacts between middle and low-income
students. Jackson emphasizes that increased spending in K-12 education leads to lower rates of poverty in adulthood, increased graduation rates (from high school), and a decreased wage gap in the future. In this study, he explains
that there is a 1:2 return on investment when it comes to school spending, “For every additional dollar spent on schools, the researchers calculated a $2 return on investment” (Jackson, 2017).
This study is significant because it shows that increased school investment has major impacts on low-income students, especially in comparison to a 1956 study which showed the opposite – that there is no/minimal impact on student outcomes
based on changes in school spending (Jackson, 2017).
Jackson, C. Kirabo, and Claire Morgan. “The Effects of School Finance Reforms on the Distribution of Spending, Academic Achievement, and Adult Outcomes.” AERA Open, vol. 9, 2023,
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/23328584231174447.
This study evaluates the effects of school finance reforms (SFRs) on teacher salaries, student achievement, and long-term outcomes. The authors find that SFRs significantly increase salaries in underfunded districts and reduce teacher
turnover, thereby improving equity. This source is valuable for understanding policy mechanisms that can reduce disparities and improve educational outcomes over time.
Johnson, Rucker. “School Funding Effectiveness: Evidence from California’s Local Control Funding Formula.” Learning Policy Institute, 10 Nov. 2023,
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/school-funding-effectiveness-ca-lcff-brief.
Prior to 2013, California was one of the lowest states in terms of average-per-pupil spending (when adjusted for cost of living). In 2013, a rule passed increasing funding per-pupil. This led to a reduction in the number of students
repeating grades and graduation from high school. According to Johnson, “However, after 3 years of additional funding, graduation rates among students from families with low incomes increased by 5 percentage points in schools with
large spending increases and by 1 percentage point in schools with small percentage increases” (Johnson, 2023). Additionally, college readiness increased with spending; also, suspensions and expulsions, especially amongst minority
students, reduced.
This article is significant because it shows not only the impact of spending on student outcomes but also the importance of the type of spending. It emphasizes the importance of LCFF (Local Control Funding Formula) – a type of funding
that “allocates state funding by the proportion of unduplicated ‘high-need’ students in the district: those from low-income families, English learners, and those in foster care” (Johnson, 2023). Johnson does so by comparing the outcomes
of LCFF spending to those of other types of funding.
Lafortune, Julian. “Understanding the Effects of School Funding.” Public Policy Institute of California, May 2022,
www.ppic.org/publication/understanding-the-effects-of-school-funding/. Accessed 2 May 2025.
California state education funding increases are related to increased student achievement. In the past, education funding was usually done on the local level, but after the Serrano v. Priest (1972) decision, the allocation of funds
for education was done on the state level. This allowed low-income students and school districts to receive more funding than they had in the past. Multiple experiments have been done to evaluate the impact of state funding on low-income
students and school districts, and the majority have the result of supporting the statement that increased funding improves student outcomes.
This study uses previous research to prove the effectiveness of increased funding on student achievement and outcomes. It is important for my research because it provides me with a lot of information and sources for this project.
Miles, Karen Hawley, and Nicole Katz. “Teacher Salaries: A Critical Equity Issue.” State Education Standard, vol. 18, no. 3, Sept. 2018, pp. 18–22, 35.
https://nasbe.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/2018/09/Hawley-Miles-Katz_September-2018-Standard.pdf.
Miles and Katz argue that teacher salaries are a critical issue for educational equity. They claim that low and uneven pay undermines schools’ ability—especially in high-need communities—to attract and retain quality teachers. They
cite evidence showing that inflation-adjusted teacher salaries declined in most states after the 2008 recession. In about half of U.S. states, the average teacher’s salary now falls below a “family living wage,” making it insufficient
to support a family. Such inadequate compensation, they note, leads to teacher shortages and high turnover, particularly in hard-to-staff schools and subjects.
This article is important because it directly links teacher pay to student equity. It highlights how state-level funding and compensation structures affect who enters and stays in the profession. Supporting the thesis, Miles and Katz
show that inequities in school finance cause inequitable teacher pay, which impacts recruitment and retention in high-poverty schools. Ultimately, this affects the quality of education that underserved students receive.
Nguyen, Tuan D., J. Cameron Anglum, and Michael Crouch. “The Effects of School Finance Reforms on Teacher Salary and Turnover: Evidence from National Data.” AERA Open, vol. 9, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584231174447.
Nguyen, Anglum, and Crouch examine whether state-level school finance reforms (SFRs) have improved teacher compensation and reduced turnover. They use nationally representative data from 2000 to 2016. They also leverage the staggered
timing of finance reform implementations across states. Their results show that these reforms increased teacher salaries by about $4,000 on average and lowered turnover by roughly 3 percentage points. However, these benefits took
up to a decade to appear. The salary gains were especially large for teachers in high-poverty and high-minority schools. This finding suggests that finance reforms sent more resources to the districts that needed them most.
This article is significant because it provides clear evidence that equitable school funding policies can influence the teacher labor market, resulting in higher pay and better retention. Relating to the thesis, Nguyen et al.’s findings
show that when school finance structures become more equitable, they help close teacher pay gaps and stabilize the workforce in underserved areas. Ultimately, this promotes greater educational equity.
Picus, Lawrence O. “Does Money Matter in Education? A Policy Makers Guide.” National Center for Education Statistics , June 1997. Selected Papers in School Finance 1995,
https://nces.ed.gov/pubs97/web/97536-2.asp.
This resource argues that although in the past monetary support has not necessarily been correlated with increased student achievement, there has been an increase in consistent trends that support this point of view. The increased
monetary support is used on hiring more teachers, increasing the pupil/teacher ratio. The resource uses SAT test results as well as NAEP testing as evidence. This resource is important because it has quantitative data that relates
the increase in education spending with student achievement as well as teacher experience. This resource specifically supports the elements of our thesis that have to do with teacher involvement, and effects of education funding
on teacher experience.
Retterath, C. “Policies, Principles, and Practices That Impact Special Education Teacher Retention in a Rural State in the Midwest: Teacher Perceptions.” ProQuest LLC. 2019.
https://www.proquest.com/docview/2268337631?sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses
Retterath focuses on the impact of funding models on special education policy across the United States, focusing on the systemic disparities that exist and their impact on students with disabilities. She argues that these inequities
exist both within and between states, due to policy implementation and funding differences. She mentions multiple case studies and policy analyses to show how federal mandates like IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)
work with state-level funding initiatives to create an inequitable system that impacts special education services.
This piece is relevant to our research question because, while her focus is on special education, her findings support how state-level funding structures and political priorities can create system inequities. These inequities affect
hiring, resource distribution, and educational quality, which are issues that also apply to general education teacher salaries. Her analysis on weighted student formulas and grants provides insight into how different states prioritize
or underfund certain populations.
Since this piece is a dissertation, some sections are overly descriptive rather than analytical. Additionally, because of this they are not peer reviewed unlike the other two sources. Still, however, the work provides an informative,
policy centered look at educational equity and the distribution of public education resources.
Rickman, Dan S., Hongbo Wang, and John V. Winters. “Relative Teacher Salaries and the Decision to Teach.” Contemporary Economic Policy, vol. 35, no. 3, 2017, pp. 542–550.
https://doi.org/10.1111/coep.12195.
Rickman, Wang, and Winters study how the competitiveness of teacher pay (teachers’ salaries compared to other professions) influences decisions to become a teacher. They use data on college graduates, adjusting for cost of living and
other state-level factors. They find that higher relative teacher salaries significantly increase the likelihood that education majors will become teachers. When teacher pay is low compared to alternative careers, fewer graduates
choose teaching.
This work is important because it links teacher compensation to the supply of new teachers, showing the opportunity cost of entering the profession. In relation to the thesis, Rickman et al. show that if teachers earn much less than
other college-educated workers, fewer qualified people enter teaching. This contributes to teacher shortages and unequal access to quality educators. Their findings support the idea that raising teacher salaries—especially in comparison
to other fields—is critical for improving teacher recruitment and achieving educational equity.
Roza, Marguerite, and Karen Hawley Miles. “Moving Toward Equity in School Funding within Districts: A Comparison of Traditional Funding Policies and More Equitable Formulas.” School Communities That Work, 2002.
In this piece, Roza and Miles investigate differences in funding between three urban school districts: Cincinnati, Seatly, and Houston. They argue that traditional “staff-based” budgeting systems are ineffective, and produce inequities
in resource allocation. Averaging teacher salaries and allocating resources by staffing ratios, rather than student needs, disadvantages schools with less experienced teachers or higher concentrations of disadvantaged students. As
a result, instead, they propose student-based budgeting as a more equitable alternative, which allocates money based on individual student status such as poverty level, English language learning, or special education needs.
This work supports our research question about how differences in teacher salaries reflect broader regional or policy driven education funding disparities. Though this study mainly focuses on differences within districts rather than
across states, its analysis of budgeting mechanisms show how state and district policies can reinforce inequality not only between districts but within them. This will help us understand how systemic policies can cause disparities
in teacher compensation and resource access.
This piece uses weighted indexes and coefficients of variation to show the inequity in traditional funding models. However, one limitation of the data is its focus on urban districts, which may overlook the different experiences rural
or suburban schools have with policy changes. As a result, preventing us from having a broader view on the impact of policies on inequity.
Singleton, E. B., and Roberts, T. “The Impact of Teacher Pay on Teacher Poverty: Teacher Shortage and Economic Concerns.” Current Urban Studies, 11, 289-300, 2023.
doi.org/10.4236/cus.2023.112015.
This study argues that multiple factors, such as stress, lack of support discipline, and pay, may be contributing to the national teacher shortage. The article draws upon data from the National Education Association to find how long
educators teach for as well as their recruitment and retention. This source is important for its consideration of multiple factors that can impact teacher retention, which often build upon each other such that finding direct causal
relationships between any one factor and teacher retention is difficult. This helps inform the main thesis’ argument by drawing in possible confounding variables that may impact retention and performance beyond teachers’ base pay.
“State Political Parties.” KFF, 27 Mar. 2025, www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/state-political-parties/?currentTimeframe=0&selectedDistributions=governor-political-affiliation&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22%3A%22Location%22%2C%22sort%22%3A%22asc%22%7D.
Steiner, E. D., Woo, A., and Doan, S. “All Work and No Pay — Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Pay and Hours Worked: Findings from the 2023 State of the American Teacher Survey.” RAND Corporation, 2023.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1108-9.html.
This report comprehensively covers the findings from the 2023 State of the American Teacher (SoT) Survey, and argues that teachers feel overworked, underpaid, and that pay increases alone seem unlikely to improve retention. The report
draws its data from three sources: the 2023 SoT survey, the 2023 American Life Panel (ALP) companion survey, and the 2021-2022 administrations of the SoT and ALP companion surveys. These sources cover nationally representative samples
of K-12 educators, and it is important because it provides a comprehensive review of how teachers perceive their own wellbeing and retention. It is informative to the thesis because educator perceptions of their own work may be more
informative than just data on pay and student outcomes, allowing for a better understanding of how pay may interact with other factors to impact educator retention.