Can't We Pay Our Best Teachers More?
Eric Hanushek files his final blog post with Deborah Meier today.
Dear Deborah,
Since we have already entered into a number of sensitive areas, we might as well go all the way and discuss salaries. I am always struck by two competing arguments—frequently made by the same people—that teachers are not motivated by money and that a major problem with American schools is that the salaries are too low to attract top people in teaching. On the surface, these arguments seem to be inconsistent, and perhaps we can try to sort through them.
To frame the discussion, let me state clearly at the outset that I personally believe that our best teachers are woefully underpaid—that we are taking advantage of the personal motivations by this group of highly effective teachers to do a crucially important job. The simple economic story is that our best teachers generate economic
Dear Deborah,
Since we have already entered into a number of sensitive areas, we might as well go all the way and discuss salaries. I am always struck by two competing arguments—frequently made by the same people—that teachers are not motivated by money and that a major problem with American schools is that the salaries are too low to attract top people in teaching. On the surface, these arguments seem to be inconsistent, and perhaps we can try to sort through them.
To frame the discussion, let me state clearly at the outset that I personally believe that our best teachers are woefully underpaid—that we are taking advantage of the personal motivations by this group of highly effective teachers to do a crucially important job. The simple economic story is that our best teachers generate economic