Research Wednesday | August 20, 2025
Dear Friends,
Misunderstandings About Teacher Compensation
In this revealing synthesis of research about teachers’ compensation, Evie Bald (July 31, 2025), shows how cash compensation to teachers fails to understand what actual compensation is from the employees' point of view. For example, while a district may announce a 10% raise in teacher salaries, this is accompanied by state-mandated increases in employee contributions to retirement plans and medical insurance. These additional costs can transform what appeared to be a raise into a reduction in take-home pay. This challenge will be especially acute in school systems that used short-term COVID funds to provide teachers additional compensation without considering the long-term budget implications as the COVID funds expire. Blad explains that in national surveys of teachers, the clear response is that the districts should cut other programs before they reduce teacher compensation.
How do you think we could reconcile these challenges? First, make the case to governing boards and legislators that education, including teacher salaries, is an investment, not merely an expense. Here is a short guideline to make that case: https://www.creativeleadership.net/blog/return-on-investmentnbsp-how-schools-can-support-investments-in-professional-learning. Second, place the trade-offs in context. Unlike the federal government, neither states nor school districts can engage in deficit spending. In the face of fixed or declining revenues, school leaders must choose between maintaining higher compensation or increasing class sizes. Many districts have already reduced the size of central office staff and cut other expenses. There is not much fat left to cut, and leaders would be wise to include the entire community, including parents and teachers, in discussing how to deal with inevitable trade-offs. Third, critically evaluate legacy programs. Here we must let the data speak. In some systems, after-school and summer school programs may be effective, but in others, as Johns Hopkins research has reported, they are expensive and ineffective. The students who most need after-school and summer school programs do not come, as those students have jobs and family responsibilities. The most effective student academic support programs happen during the school day. In addition, there are curriculum units initiated years or decades ago that are no longer necessary. I know a principal who every year conducts a “dumpster day” in which irrelevant and useless binders, word searches, and other materials are placed in the dumpster and, as Marie Kondo would suggest, thank them for their service but send them into oblivion.
As I have argued elsewhere, money is not enough to restore the teaching profession. Teachers want respect, professional collaborations, and advanced learning. We won’t solve the teacher shortage with money alone. But without money, we are selecting teachers to take on crushing student debt for very little compensation.
News from Creative Leadership Solutions
Fearless Schools Podcast - An amazing new episode of the Fearless Schools Podcast featuring Dr. Michael Fullan has dropped. Dr. Fullan delves into the critical role of failure in the learning process and educational reform. You can find all the episodes and follow the Fearless Schools Podcast wherever you listen.
CLS Services CLICK HERE to learn more about what makes us different and how we can help your team.
Fearless Instruction Our latest book, Fearless Instruction, has been released! It features a dynamic collection of voices united by a common purpose: to carry forward and evolve the foundational work of the 90/90/90 schools. Grounded in research and rich with practical strategies, this book is for educators ready to lead with clarity, collaborate with purpose, and teach with courage. Fearless Instruction can be purchased from Amazon by CLICKING HERE.