How are Ohio’s public school teachers paid? Not how much. But on what basis are their salaries determined? For decades, the answer has been seniority and degrees earned.
Texas’ Effective Advising Framework is an established model to help schools implement an integrated approach to career and academic planning for students. Ohio policymakers would be wise to crib these three valuable lessons from it.
A few years ago, teacher shortages were a hot topic in Ohio.
The Fordham Institute recently published a comprehensive study comparing the power of teacher unions across all 50 states.
Thousands of Ohio students are M.I.A. from school and losing the opportunity to reach their potential. Nearly 385,000 students—about one in every four—were “chronically absent” in 2024–25, meaning they missed more than 10 percent of the school year. Of these students, 125,000 were absent more than 20 percent of the year, or about two months’ worth of school.
Three years ago, warnings about potential teacher shortages dominated education headlines. Ohio policymakers, determined to alleviate concerns, included in the state budget a number of provisions aimed at bolstering the teacher workforce.
When Ohio lawmakers established a science of reading initiative in 2023, they included two provisions aimed at ensuring that higher education institutions are training teacher candidates in scientifically-based r
November’s mid-term elections were a timely reminder about the pitfalls of holding school board elections on off-cycle years. Time for that to change here in Ohio.
If Ohio leaders want to bring teacher performance pay to the Buckeye State, they’ll have to address questions of fairness, effectiveness, and cost. And Texas’s established program can help provide the answers.
Research on Texas’ teacher merit pay program has shown positive impacts on both student achievement and teacher retention. Compelling proof that a similar plan merits serious consideration here in Ohio.
Claims of teacher shortages in recent years are more complex than the
Despite record-breaking funding levels, many Ohio districts are worried about a looming budget crunch.
We take a look at the Teacher Incentive Allotment. Started in 2019 in Texas, TIA provides some great examples of how Ohio could implement a statewide performance pay program for teachers.
If policymakers are interested in implementing a merit pay plan for teachers in Ohio, they would do well to check out the data on similar efforts in Dallas and Washington, D.C., before they begin.
New policies in state law should soon give leaders important data on the health of the teacher pipeline in Ohio. What to do with that data when it’s compiled? Here are six ideas to consider.
Teacher shortages have been making headlines
With students’ math scores still mired in a post-Covid slump—and not so impressive prior to it—Ohio policymakers have begun exploring ways to impr
A few months back, Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy caused waves by proposing to pay teachers and school administrators based on merit.
Bolstering the teacher pipeline should be a top priority for Ohio’s elected officials. But the size and scope of teacher shortages is nearly impossible to determine with the data currently available. Here’s how to fix that fundamental problem.
Governor DeWine first announced his interest in principal apprenticeship during his 2024 state of the state address.
Like leaders in other states, Ohio policymakers have been working to address chronic teacher shortages.
First-year teachers—especially those who begin on the lower end of the performance scale—tend to improve over time if they remain on the job, according to rigorous research studies.
Tackling Ohio’s teacher vacancy data problem should be a priority for lawmakers in the upcoming year.
Legislation in the Ohio General Assembly proposes a new method for collecting and analyzing data on teacher vacancies that could provide leaders with information they need to tackle shortages. Here’s a look at what works and what could be better.
About a month ago, I published an analysis of the starting salaries of teachers working in school districts across the Cleveland and Columbus metro areas. Strong entry-level pay is crucial as schools work to attract talented folks into the profession.
Teachers are the most important in-school factor driving student achievement, and how schools compensate them matters immensely. Entry-level teacher pay is particularly important, as it affects recruitment efforts.
The Learning Policy Institute recently released The State of the Teacher Workforce, a state-by-state examination of factors impacting teacher supply and demand and student access to qualified educators.
In a recent piece, I examined how recommendations from the Let Teachers Teach workgroup in Louisiana could be applied in Ohio to help improve teacher retention. One recommendation stood out as something worthy of a closer look: addressing chronic absenteeism.
Earlier this year, the Louisiana Department of Education launched a Let Teachers Teach workgroup. More than two dozen educators were tasked with identifying “common classroom disruptions and unnecessary bureaucracies” and then brainstorming solutions.
Teacher pipelines and shortages have been a hot topic in Ohio the last several years. One of the biggest talking points has been that fewer students seem interested in the profession.
