Teacher Pay Penalty

Snapshot:

There is an increased emphasis in building a quality teacher workforce but little attention paid to the pay penalty teachers face for working in their profession.

Teachers working in the public sector who are represented by a union earn 13.2 percent less than other comparable college graduates. The pay gap is largest for private sector teachers without union representation (-32.1 percent). Separate analyses by gender are also presented given that the overwhelming majority of teachers are women (around 72 percent)—here female teachers were only compared to female non-teacher college-educated workers, and male teachers were only compared to male non-teacher college-educated workers. Compared to female teachers, the teacher pay penalty is worse for male teachers for each of the four teacher groups. In general, teacher pay disadvantages are mitigated if teachers are employed in the public sector—and more so if they have union representation.

Source: Economic Policy Institute

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Compensation Matters: The Case of Teachers

Research Brief from Boston College, Center for Retirement Research

The brief’s key findings are:

• Many public sector pension plans have recently cut pension benefits for new hires, thereby reducing compensation.

• The analysis looks at how such cutbacks could affect the quality of teachers.

• One proxy for teacher quality is the average SAT score at a teacher’s undergraduate institution.

• The analysis finds that school districts with higher wages and/or higher pensions are able to hire teachers from institutions with higher SAT scores.

• These results suggest that cutting compensation for new teachers is not costless, as it will likely reduce applicant quality.

 Download pdf brief

UNESCO Freedom of Expression Toolkit

From the Summary:

The Freedom of Expression Toolkit builds on the premise that freedom of expression, as well as press freedom and freedom of information, are indispensable elements in the attainment of all human rights. Throughout this Toolkit there will be an emphasis on the four key elements of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, namely the right to hold opinions without interference, the right to seek information, the right to receive information and the right to impart information to others.

 Source: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Download pdf of UNESCO Freedom of Expression Toolkit