WEDNESDAY NEWS LINKS:

Low Teacher Pay Threatens Texas Student Achievement, Says Expert

Posted byHoumanitarian

Gary Scharrer, San Antonio Express News
AUSTIN — Texas teacher salaries are not competitive, and teaching quality has declined, which threatens student achievement, a Harvard-trained economist testified Tuesday in an ongoing school funding lawsuit trial.

Duke University professor Jacob Vigdor contends that Texas does not pay its public school teachers enough and believes a decline in the competitive job market for teachers hampers the state’s ability to recruit and retain highly affective ones.

PoliGu.com

Statewide enrollment increased by 270,000 students from 2009 to 2012, even as the number of teachers dropped by 3,400, said Vigdor, professor of public policy and economics. Vigdor said he would not be surprised to see a decline in student achievement follow a decline in teacher quality.

“This is a very worrisome situation. It behooves the state to think carefully about whether they are investing in the teacher labor market at a level that is consistent with the goals that they have espoused,”

he told state District Judge John Dietz.

Vigdor testified for the Texas School Coalition, one of four groups representing more than 600 school districts that have sued the state. The case includes claims that Texas is not spending enough money to meet academic standards and that the funding it does provide is not equitably distributed.

Average Texas teacher salaries have fallen behind those of other high-growth Sun Belt states, Vigdor said. The average salary in Texas was $47,311 in 2009-10, below the national average of $54,965, and lower than 32 other states, Vigdor said.

Chris Diamond, a lawyer for parents and the Texas Association of Business, asked Vigdor if it wasn’t a waste of money to spend it on a teacher who didn’t produce results “and not getting what you paid for?”

“You are, in fact, getting what you paid for,” Vigdor replied. “If you buy a pair of shoes that are very cheap and you discover that those shoes have worn out after you have worn them for a month, you could say that you got what you paid for – you just didn’t pay for a high quality pair of shoes.”

Under cross-examination by Assistant Attorney General Shelley Dahlberg, Vigdor conceded that some teachers quit to make more money in a new career or because teaching wasn’t suitable for them. He also conceded he did not figure cost of living disparities when finding that the salaries were below average.
(Read more at the Houston Chronicle)

LOCAL AREA HEADLINES:

STATE, NATION & WORLD: