Description:
In this paper, we provide insight into the current landscape and efficacy of compensation parity policy in state-funded pre-K. Special focus is placed on what policies states employ to require that compensation of preschool teachers to be equivalent to that of their counterparts teaching slightly older children in public elementary schools. In order to categorize different parity policies, we have utilized a compensation parity framework that distinguishes between full compensation parity and other forms of compensation improvement, as well as by components of compensation (salary, benefits, and payment for professional responsibilities). Based on this framework, we find only four states (New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Tennessee) have full compensation parity for lead and assistant teachers across all three components of compensation. Even for these states, some policies are extended only to teachers working in public settings, which is a significant distinction given the number of teachers employed in the public system, yet working in private settings. Six other states (Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, and Oklahoma) provide full compensation parity but only for lead teachers. For a number of other states, there is a mix of policies with regard to level of compensation improvement and component of compensation. In addition, a large number of states--24 in all, which is more than half of the 44 states running pre-K programs--report having no compensation parity policies. With regard to the efficacy of parity policy, we have provided an analysis of pre-K teacher salary, program quality, spending, and coverage with respect to salary parity policy. We find evidence that the inclusion of salary parity policy is associated with higher salaries for preschool teachers and higher spending per pupil. Quality and state spending on pre-K are also higher in states with salary parity policies, but these differences are not statistically significant. Moreover, we see no evidence that salary parity and the associated higher earnings for pre-K teachers comes at the expense of coverage, as the share of the four-year-old population enrolled in states with salary parity policy is statistically level with that of states without parity policy. (author abstract)
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Reports & Papers
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