A path-breaking study of teachers in Texas reveals that working conditions matter more to teachers than the salary they receive. Appearing in the Winter 2004 edition of Education Next, "The Revolving Door: Why Teachers Leave," (http://www.educationnext.org/20041/76.html) finds that when teachers change jobs, salary is not as powerful an incentive as working conditions. Women teachers, especially, respond more to working conditions than salary levels.
Eric A. Hanushek, John F. Kain, and Steven G. Rivkin's study of teachers in Texas finds that "combat pay"—extra money for teaching in challenging environments—is unlikely to be the answer, unless the amounts are very large. They suggest that salary increases of 25% to 40% would be needed to equalize teacher exit rates between urban and suburban schools.
In the paper, the authors point out that "teachers transfer from one school to another…more as a reaction to the characteristics of their students than in response to better salaries in other schools." They find that "teaching lower-achieving students is a strong factor in decisions to leave Texas public schools."
The high level of teacher mobility in the most disadvantaged schools has raised concerns that the most needy students tend to get the least experienced teachers. This study confirms those assertions.
This paper is one of a series of analyses emanating from school performance data made available through the Texas Schools Project at the University of Texas at Dallas in cooperation with the Texas Education Agency.
Eric A. Hanushek is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a member of Koret Task Force on K–12 Education, and Steven G. Rivkin is an associate professor of economics at Amherst College. The late John F. Kain was a professor of economics and political economy at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Education Next is a scholarly journal published by the Hoover Institution that is committed to looking at hard facts about school reform. Other sponsoring institutions are the Harvard Program on Education Policy and Governance, the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, and the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.
Working Press: Contact - Coauthor Eric A. Hanushek at 650-736-0942
