Eric A. Hanushek, John F. Kain and Steve G. Rivkin, National Bureau of Economic Research, November 2001
Economists Eric Hanushek, John Kain and Steve Rivkin teamed up for this provocative - some might even say explosive - new paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research. They set out to try to determine why teachers change schools or leave teaching. Their data source is Texas. Their bottom line: It's the kids, not the money. It seems that the more disadvantaged (and minority) the students, the less apt are white teachers to remain in those schools. (There is also some evidence that minority teachers tend to prefer minority pupils.) The effect of student body composition on teacher mobility is stronger than the effect of salary. But paying teachers more can overcome their propensity to leave poor and heavily minority schools. This price tag can be hefty, however: "[S]chools serving a high proportion of students who are academically very disadvantaged and either black or Hispanic may have to pay an additional 20, 30 or even 50 percent more in salary than those schools serving a predominantly white or Asian, academically well-prepared student body." Across-the-board salary increases for all teachers won't accomplish this. This looks to us like a pretty strong argument for what some term "combat pay" for teachers in challenging schools - and for redoubling efforts to recruit more minority teachers. If you'd like to see for yourself, you can download the paper for $5 from http://www.nber.org/papers/w8599.
