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Policy expertsandeducation advocateshave been talking about the need for bonus pay in teaching for years, and with good reason. In arecent paperthe National Parents Union and Education Reform Now compiled what we believe is the most extensive literature review on this topic and conducted the first-ever comparison of bonus pay in teaching with that in a parallel field: nursing.
Our conclusion: Targeting bonuses to educators in high-needs areas — beyond the additional pay for seniority and advanced degrees that most teachers enjoy — would help equalize access to high-quality educators, rectify per-pupil spending inequities between schools with high proportions of low-income students and their advantaged peers, alleviate shortages in specialty areas such as STEM and special education, and reduce teacher turnover at high-poverty schools.
Yet despite theclear rationaleandsupporting evidencebonus pay for teachers in specializations like STEM, special education and bilingual education, and for those working in high-poverty schools, is still shockingly uncommon.Our analysis of data from NCTQon 148 collective bargaining agreements in large districts shows that fewer than 1 in 6 (15%) offered any differentiated pay for teachers working in schools with large proportions of low-income students. Even where extra pay for other shortage areas (e.g., special education) ostensibly exists, the financial incentives are usually nominal and often require activation by school boards or other entities through processes that lack transparency and accountability to parents and taxpayers, which, in turn, renders them ineffective.
and و in و for – تفاصيل مهمة
So why isn’t being done to build a better system that provides equal access to high-quality teachers and fairer per-pupil spending?
Unions are the most formidable barrier to bonus pay in high-need schools and specializations. In a 2022 piece for The New York Times, Thomas Toch of Future Edstated: “For their part, teachers unions, influential voices on state and local staffing policy, tend to back expensive strategies that benefit every teacher rather than concentrate resources where there’s clear need. An American Federation of Teachers shortage task force in July recommended higher across-the-board pay, smaller classes and a reduction in the use of student achievement to measure school and teacher performance.”
Similarly, researchers at the Brookings Institutionconcludedin 2017: “Both state policies and teachers unions have blocked differentiating teacher compensation for things like teaching in high-demand subjects or in high-need school settings, but this type of price discrimination would be an expedient way to address many of the persistent teacher vacancies districts increasingly face.”
in و and و of – تفاصيل مهمة
Union leaders often opine that anydeviationfrom standard salary schedulesis somehow unfairand that bonus pay could be divisive among the teachers who receive it and those who do not.
We don’t see anything necessarily nefarious or malicious in this stance. It may have some grounding in practical realities and could be an easy way to please most members without ruffling too many feathers. However, the stance of union leaders seems at odds with that of their rank-and-file teachers, 92% of whom, in a 2023 survey by E4E, said theysupport bonus payfor working in hard-to-staff schools.
The popularity of this idea was sustained inE4E’s 2024 surveywhen teachers selected “Opportunities for higher pay for working in a hard-to-staff school or subject area” as one of the strategies most likely to attract talented and diverse candidates to the teaching profession — and teachers of color chose it as the No. 1 strategy.
in و of و and – تفاصيل مهمة
That opposition also reveals a fascinating contrast with standard practices in nursing — a profession for which, like education, the American Federation of Teachers provides widespread representation in collective bargaining.
Though nursing shares similar demographics and educational requirements with teaching, the union’s approach to compensation in these two professions is worlds apart. Ouranalysisof six matched AFT teacher and nursing contracts in Manchester, Connecticut; Cincinnati Ohio, and New Brunswick, New Jersey, shows that while bonus pay is rare, restricted and meager in teaching, it is widespread, accessible and far generous in nursing.
When it came to hard-to-fill roles in nursing — such as weekend and overnight shifts — thecontractswe examined provided substantial supplemental pay to attract nurses to these less popular time slots. Nurses in Manchester, for example, receive a shift premium of $5.25 per hour (18% above base rate) for evening shifts and $7 per hour (24% above base rate) for working nights and weekends.
In contrast, the teacher agreements we studied had no incentives whatsoever for teaching in high-poverty schools. Some were there, in theory, but upon closer inspection, they were reduced to zero in practice by the failure to actually implement them.
in و and و to – تفاصيل مهمة
For example, while the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers contract gives the superintendent authority to declare shortage-based needs, the funding is restricted behind multiple layers of bureaucratic processes. When contacted, Cincinnati Public Schools officials informed us that the superintendent hasn’t authorized this policy since at least 2022.
The situation was somewhat better for teachers in specializations in which there are shortages, such as special education, bilingual education and STEM. However, where teachers might, if they are lucky, get a maximum differential of 5% of their base salary for one of these positions, nurses’ contracts commonly include bonuses of 15% or for hard-to-staff assignments. Research shows that bonuses 7.5% above base salary are theminimum neededto influence choice of assignments, with increasing efficacy above that level.
of و for و are – تفاصيل مهمة
We don’t consider our study to be the final word. We examined only six contracts in three geographic areas. And in both professions, there are ways to provide bonus pay outside collective bargaining agreements.
Districts could offer differentiated pay as annual bonuses outside of contracts (though negotiation through a memorandum of understanding or the like might still be required) or by giving school leaders, such as principals, autonomy over hiring (instead of assignments based on bumping and seniority) and weighting funding based on student needs rather than teacher seniority in order for school administrators to set salaries and staffing assignments according to their school’s specific needs.
At the state level, funding could be offered to districts or schools through grants tailored to address shortages in high-poverty and rural schools and specializations, such as Illinois’ Teacher Vacancy Grant Pilot Program and Texas’ Teacher Incentive Allotment.
research is clearly needed.
and و to و as – تفاصيل مهمة
Nonetheless, we think our findings weaken the argument that bonus pay is somehow inherently anti-union or unmanageably divisive. This is also a situation where we feel that the adults need to give a little to do what’s best for children, especially students in the highest-need classrooms that continue to suffer from shortages of experienced and qualified teachers that diminish young people’s opportunities. It is time to pay added bonuses to get the best teachers where children need them most.
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Disclaimer: This news article has been republished exactly as it appeared on its original source, without any modification. We do not take any responsibility for its content, which remains solely the responsibility of the original publisher.
Author:Charles Barone and Andrew Epifanio
Published on:2025-12-04 16:01:00
Source: www.the74million.org
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n; n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’); fbq(‘init’, ‘626037510879173’); // 626037510879173 fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);{“@context”:”http://schema.org”,”@type”:”NewsArticle”,”dateCreated”:”2025-12-04T18:38:12+04:00″,”datePublished”:”2025-12-04T18:38:12+04:00″,”dateModified”:”2025-12-04T18:38:12+04:00″,”headline”:”Bonus Pay Gets Great Nurses Where Theyu2019re Needed Most. Why Not Teachers, Too?”,”name”:”Bonus Pay Gets Great Nurses Where Theyu2019re Needed Most. Why Not Teachers, Too?”,”keywords”:[],”url”:”https://uaetodaynews.com/bonus-pay-gets-great-nurses-where-theyre-needed-most-why-not-teachers-too-the-74/”,”description”:”Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Policy experts and education advocates have been talking about the need for bonus pay in teaching for years, and w”,”copyrightYear”:”2025″,”articleSection”:”Education”,”articleBody”:”nnntttttnntttttnn n Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newslettern n n n Policy experts and education advocates have been talking about the need for bonus pay in teaching for years, and with good reason. In a recent paperthe National Parents Union and Education Reform Now compiled what we believe is the most extensive literature review on this topic and conducted the first-ever comparison of bonus pay in teaching with that in a parallel field: nursing.nOur conclusion: Targeting bonuses to educators in high-needs areas u2014 beyond the additional pay for seniority and advanced degrees that most teachers enjoy u2014 would help equalize access to high-quality educators, rectify per-pupil spending inequities between schools with high proportions of low-income students and their more advantaged peers, alleviate shortages in specialty areas such as STEM and special education, and reduce teacher turnover at high-poverty schools.nnYet despite the clear rationale and supporting evidencebonus pay for teachers in specializations like STEM, special education and bilingual education, and for those working in high-poverty schools, is still shockingly uncommon. Our analysis of data from NCTQ on 148 collective bargaining agreements in large districts shows that fewer than 1 in 6 (15%) offered any differentiated pay for teachers working in schools with large proportions of low-income students. Even where extra pay for other shortage areas (e.g., special education) ostensibly exists, the financial incentives are usually nominal and often require activation by school boards or other entities through processes that lack transparency and accountability to parents and taxpayers, which, in turn, renders them ineffective.nnNCTQ Teacher Contract DatabasenSo why isnu2019t more being done to build a better system that provides equal access to high-quality teachers and fairer per-pupil spending?nUnions are the most formidable barrier to bonus pay in high-need schools and specializations. In a 2022 piece for The New York Times, Thomas Toch of Future Ed stated: u201cFor their part, teachers unions, influential voices on state and local staffing policy, tend to back expensive strategies that benefit every teacher rather than concentrate resources where thereu2019s clear need. An American Federation of Teachers shortage task force in July recommended higher across-the-board pay, smaller classes and a reduction in the use of student achievement to measure school and teacher performance.u201dnSimilarly, researchers at the Brookings Institution concluded in 2017: u201cBoth state policies and teachers unions have blocked differentiating teacher compensation for things like teaching in high-demand subjects or in high-need school settings, but this type of price discrimination would be an expedient way to address many of the persistent teacher vacancies districts increasingly face.u201dnRelatedBonus Pay Gets Great Nurses Where Theyu2019re Needed Most. Why Not Teachers, Too?nUnion leaders often opine that any deviation from standard salary schedules is somehow unfair and that bonus pay could be divisive among the teachers who receive it and those who do not. nWe donu2019t see anything necessarily nefarious or malicious in this stance. It may have some grounding in practical realities and could be an easy way to please most members without ruffling too many feathers. However, the stance of union leaders seems at odds with that of their rank-and-file teachers, 92% of whom, in a 2023 survey by E4E, said they support bonus pay for working in hard-to-staff schools. The popularity of this idea was sustained in E4Eu2019su00a0 2024 surveywhen teachers selected u201cOpportunities for higher pay for working in a hard-to-staff school or subject areau201d as one of the strategies most likely to attract talented and diverse candidates to the teaching profession u2014 and teachers of color chose it as the No. 1 strategy.nThat opposition also reveals a fascinating contrast with standard practices in nursing u2014 a profession for which, like education, the American Federation of Teachers provides widespread representation in collective bargaining.nThough nursing shares similar demographics and educational requirements with teaching, the unionu2019s approach to compensation in these two professions is worlds apart. Our analysis of six matched AFT teacher and nursing contracts in Manchester, Connecticut; Cincinnati Ohio, and New Brunswick, New Jersey, shows that while bonus pay is rare, restricted and meager in teaching, it is widespread, accessible and far more generous in nursing.nSource: Examined nurse and teacher collective bargainingu00a0agreements (see Appendix B) as well as follow-up communications with school districts about policy usage (given administrative restrictions in the contracts.)nWhen it came to hard-to-fill roles in nursing u2014 such as weekend and overnight shifts u2014u00a0 the contracts we examined provided substantial supplemental pay to attract nurses to these less popular time slots. Nurses in Manchester, for example, receive a shift premium of $5.25 per hour (18% above base rate) for evening shifts and $7 per hour (24% above base rate) for working nights and weekends.nIn contrast, the teacher agreements we studied had no incentives whatsoever for teaching in high-poverty schools. Some were there, in theory, but upon closer inspection, they were reduced to zero in practice by the failure to actually implement them.nFor example, while the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers contract gives the superintendent authority to declare shortage-based needs, the funding is restricted behind multiple layers of bureaucratic processes. When contacted, Cincinnati Public Schools officials informed us that the superintendent hasnu2019t authorized this policy since at least 2022.nRelatedBonus Pay Gets Great Nurses Where Theyu2019re Needed Most. Why Not Teachers, Too?nThe situation was somewhat better for teachers in specializations in which there are shortages, such as special education, bilingual education and STEM. However, where teachers might, if they are lucky, get a maximum differential of 5% of their base salary for one of these positions, nursesu2019 contracts commonly include bonuses of 15% or more for hard-to-staff assignments. Research shows that bonuses 7.5% above base salary are the minimum needed to influence choice of assignments, with increasing efficacy above that level.nWe donu2019t consider our study to be the final word. We examined only six contracts in three geographic areas. And in both professions, there are ways to provide bonus pay outside collective bargaining agreements.nDistricts could offer differentiated pay as annual bonuses outside of contracts (though negotiation through a memorandum of understanding or the like might still be required) or by giving school leaders, such as principals, autonomy over hiring (instead of assignments based on bumping and seniority) and weighting funding based on student needs rather than teacher seniority in order for school administrators to set salaries and staffing assignments according to their schoolu2019s specific needs.nAt the state level, funding could be offered to districts or schools through grants tailored to address shortages in high-poverty and rural schools and specializations, such as Illinoisu2019 Teacher Vacancy Grant Pilot Program and Texasu2019 Teacher Incentive Allotment. nMore research is clearly needed.nNonetheless, we think our findings weaken the argument that bonus pay is somehow inherently anti-union or unmanageably divisive. This is also a situation where we feel that the adults need to give a little to do whatu2019s best for children, especially students in the highest-need classrooms that continue to suffer from shortages of experienced and qualified teachers that diminish young peopleu2019s opportunities. It is time to pay added bonuses to get the best teachers where children need them most.nn n n n Did you use this article in your work?
nWeu2019d love to hear how The 74u2019s reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers. Tell us hown n n !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?n n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;n t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,n document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);n fbq(‘init’, ‘626037510879173’); // 626037510879173n fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);n rnrnrnrnrnDisclaimer: This news article has been republished exactly as it appeared on its original source, without any modification. rnWe do not take any responsibility for its content, which remains solely the responsibility of the original publisher.rnrnrnrnrnrnAuthor: Charles Barone and Andrew EpifaniornPublished on: 2025-12-04 16:01:00rnSource: www.the74million.orgrnrn”,”publisher”:{“@id”:”#Publisher”,”@type”:”Organization”,”name”:”uaetodaynews”,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”url”:”https://uaetodaynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/images-e1759081190269.png”},”sameAs”:[“https://www.facebook.com/uaetodaynewscom”,”https://www.pinterest.com/uaetodaynews/”,”https://www.instagram.com/uaetoday_news_com/”]},”sourceOrganization”:{“@id”:”#Publisher”},”copyrightHolder”:{“@id”:”#Publisher”},”mainEntityOfPage”:{“@type”:”WebPage”,”@id”:”https://uaetodaynews.com/bonus-pay-gets-great-nurses-where-theyre-needed-most-why-not-teachers-too-the-74/”,”breadcrumb”:{“@id”:”#Breadcrumb”}},”author”:{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”uaetodaynews”,”url”:”https://uaetodaynews.com/author/arabsongmedia-net/”},”image”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”url”:”https://i0.wp.com/uaetodaynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/nurse-student-825×495.jpg?fit=825%2C495&ssl=1″,”width”:1200,”height”:495}}
Disclaimer: This news article has been republished exactly as it appeared on its original source, without any modification.
We do not take any responsibility for its content, which remains solely the responsibility of the original publisher.
Author: uaetodaynews
Published on: 2025-12-04 14:38:00
Source: uaetodaynews.com
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