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Education Week, 3/30/18

Teacher Pay: How salaries, pensions, and benefits work in schools

Teachers are paid less than comparable workers with similar education levels, an Economic Policy Institute analysis of federal data shows. Since 1996, teachers’ weekly wages have decreased $30 per week to $1,092 in 2015, while all college graduates’ average weekly wages have increased $124 to reach $1,416. Those numbers are adjusted for inflation. However, non-wage benefits as a share of total compensation are more important for teachers than for other professionals. Non-wage benefits can include prepaid insurance premiums and pensions.

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Education Week, 3/19/18

Collective bargaining does not improve teacher pay, study finds

Challenging the conventional wisdom about collective bargaining, a new study finds that requiring school districts to bargain with teachers’ unions did not actually improve teacher pay. Thirty-three states passed mandatory collective bargaining laws since the 1960s. Those states do typically have higher teacher salaries and higher per-pupil education spending, but they already did so “well before the emergence of collective bargaining rights or modern teacher unions,” the study found.

Local Education Funding Pension Costs State Education Funding
The 74, 2/26/18

The next educational equity battleground: Little-noticed ESSA provision to allow parents to see whether districts fund schools fairly

When Congress updated federal education law in 2015, it included a little-noticed, bipartisan provision that requires states to report per-pupil spending at the school level. The Every Student Succeeds Act provision goes into effect in the 2018–19 school year. That change, advocates and researchers predict, is likely to expose disparities in the way some districts divide resources among their schools… “The first step is just opening up the conversation and empowering our best advocates, which are usually parents,” she said. The new data will give them useful information so they “know what the status quo is [and] ask hard questions.”

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Houston Public Media, 2/15/18

Houston Superintendent defends proposed changes, calls for school finance reform

As for the budget, Carranza said that the new model tries to distribute funds in a more equitable way. But he called on state lawmakers to reform the state’s school finance system, which relies heavily on local property taxes. That’s one reason why HISD is facing a budget shortfall, as property values are expected to fall in the wake of Harvey’s flooding.

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Education Week, 1/23/18

Does it make sense to offer housing perks for teachers?

A growing number of districts are using housing incentives as a way to try to attract and retain K-12 educators—building teacher complexes with below-market rental rates, giving teachers living stipends, or offering discounts on home rentals and purchases. And yet it turns out there’s little proof that offering housing incentives actually makes for good K-12 policy.

Local Education Funding
Indy Star, 1/17/18

Indiana: Bill would sack school leaders in financially ailing districts

A bill to create a watch system for monitoring school districts’ financial health would punish schools that are truly struggling— and some school officials say it goes too far. House Bill 1315 would strip power from elected school boards, limit how often they can meet and allow state officials to revoke a superintendent’s license if the district is in hot financial water for too long.

Local Education Funding
The Baltimore Sun, 1/23/18

Baltimore school board approves new student funding plan based on poverty rates

The Baltimore school board on Tuesday approved broad changes to the way city schools are funded, allowing money to be allotted based largely on student poverty levels rather than standardized test scores. The new formula will send more money to many schools in high-poverty neighborhoods, enabling principals to pay for psychologists, tutoring services or other tools that could better serve children in need.

Funding Equity Local Education Funding
The Inquirer, 1/22/18

As budget season nears, school districts face formidable foe: Fixed costs

After fixed costs such as already-negotiated increases in benefits, state-required pension payments, and special-education placements, Pennsylvania school officials say there’s little wiggle room. An Inquirer and Daily News analysis based on data from the state and the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials found that on average, about 85 percent of all costs for the state’s 500 school districts are set before budget hearings even begin.

Local Education Funding