Pensions have long been an important part of compensation for teachers in public schools. However, the incentive structures of teacher pension systems are not widely understood, even though they can have powerful effects on the composition of the teaching force and on public finance. In their research, the authors have found that teacher pension…

Argues that schools are paying low salaries for low-quality teachers when they would prefer high-quality teachers--as in the past when teaching was one of the few professions open to talented women. Higher salaries will attract high-quality teachers and thus improve education, but only if salary increase are tied to higher performance standards.…

Argues that if one considers fringe and retirement benefits and the number of hours worked during the year, teachers are not underpaid relative to other professions. Teachers are well paid because of union influence and to compensate them for working in unpleasant environments. Calls for more use of vouchers and more charter schools to reduce…