The relationship between districts' teacher salary schedule structures and the qualifications of their teacher staffing profile

Abstract

Many school administrators face difficulties hiring teachers with the requisite job credentials and qualifications. In this paper, we argue for the potential of salary structures to influence teacher staffing. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to examine whether restructuring teacher compensation salary schedules is associated with attracting larger shares of teachers with the necessary baseline qualifications for the job (i.e., "highly qualified teachers" or HQT) in a non-collective bargaining state. Fixed effects regression using panel data from 2012-2014 for 80 of South Carolina's public school districts was used to address the purpose of the study. The percent of classes not taught by HQT was found to increase as districts become more backloaded. This provides supporting evidence concerning the benefits of frontloading salary schedules. Additionally, potential drawbacks of frontloading salary schedules should be examined to improve the knowledge base of the potential costs relative to benefits of frontloading salary structures.