A newly released report highlights incentives that can be much more effective in attracting and retaining quality teachers than simple merit pay programs. The report shows how merit pay programs that reward teachers based on their students’ standardized test scores do little to improve student achievement and offers information on other incentives that could be more successful.

View salary data for teacher positions in Ohio school districts dating back to the 2001-2002 school year.

The OEA Collective Bargaining & Research Bulletin outlines the structure of teacher salary schedules and reports data on Ohio teacher salaries. Data in this report were compiled by OEA Research and other noted sources.

Using the 2007-2008 median beginning teacher salary of $30.678, a typical Ohio teacher salary schedule looks something like this:  Sample Teacher Salary Schedule

Though the state minimum teachers’ salary schedule contemplates no additional pay increases beyond 11 years, most salary schedules do contain periodic longevity steps.

Salary increases can also be achieved by making changes to the index. The most common method for adjusting the index is to add experience steps or training columns.

For the 2007-2008 school year, the average salary for a beginning teacher with a bachelor’s degree is $30,962.

The state minimum teacher salary schedule recognizes the following four training levels: less than a bachelor’s degree; a bachelor’s degree; a bachelor’s degree and at least 150 semester hours, or an equivalent number of quarter hours; and, a master’s degree.

The index is used to determine the salary for each training and experience level.

The effect of the index is to build automatic step increases, or increments, into the single salary schedule. Thus, for a set number of years step increases are received annually.

While the single salary schedule remains the standard for determining teacher pay, alternative compensation models are gaining some momentum.

In recent years, local anti-tax groups, conservative politicians, and proponents of performance-based pay systems have attacked the single salary schedule portraying it as an anachronism and an impediment to advancing student academic performance.

Teacher salary increases come in three forms: step increases; increases on the base; and, index changes.

ODE data is broken down, showing staffing and salary levels for administrators, professional and other staff by district.