Teacher Compensation Policy
Shortage-Subject Areas: Ohio state policy encourages municipal school districts to provide additional compensation for "teaching in a grade level or subject area in which the board has determined there is a shortage..." when adopting salary schedules. Ohio state policy specifies a grant program for all districts that provides incentives to attract qualified teachers to teach in shortage areas. However neither program appears to be funded or implemented.
High-Need Schools: Ohio state policy encourages municipal school districts to provide additional compensation for "assignment to a hard-to-staff school," when adopting salary schedules. Ohio requires that to receive a grant that provides incentives to attract qualified teachers in shortage areas, the school must be deemed hard to staff, as defined by the state. However neither program appears to be funded or implemented.
Prioritize funding for teaching in shortage-subject areas and at high-need schools.
Ohio has articulated policy to support differential pay and should therefore prioritize funding for teachers who teach in shortage-subject areas.
Ohio recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis. However this analysis was updated subsequent to the state's review.
8B: High-Need Schools and Subjects
States should help address chronic shortages and needs. States should ensure that state-level policies (such as a uniform salary schedule) do not interfere with districts' flexibility in compensating teachers in ways that best meet their individual needs and resources. However, when it comes to addressing chronic shortages, states should do more than simply get out of the way. They should provide direct support for differential pay for effective teaching in shortage subject areas and high-need schools.[1] Attracting effective and qualified teachers to high-need schools or filling vacancies in hard-to-staff subjects are problems that are frequently beyond a district's ability to solve. States that provide direct support for differential pay in these areas are taking an important step in promoting the equitable distribution of quality teachers.[2] Short of providing direct support, states can also use policy levers to indicate to districts that differential pay is not only permissible but necessary.