Education Trust-West
California’s public schools harbored a secret scandal.
Lifting the Veil on Teacher Salaries
The Challenge: How much teachers are paid has a big influence on the quality of teachers a school can attract. But in California, teacher salaries are masked by the state’s accounting methods, which only required reporting on average salaries at the district level – leaving inequities at the school level hidden. That’s why The Education-Trust West conducted its own investigation into the unequal distribution of funding for California’s public schools.
Our Approach: Fenton developed and executed a media strategy to release the groundbreaking report, “California’s Hidden Teacher Spending Gap: How State and District Budgeting Practices Shortchange Poor and Minority Students and Their Schools.” We localized the story for mainstream and ethnic media reporters in every major media market.
Progress, Accelerated: The above-the-fold headline in the San Francisco Chronicle, “Schools’ great divide: No incentive for more-experienced teachers to go where they’re needed most,” was reflected in coverage throughout the state including stories in The Sacramento Bee, San Diego Union Tribune, Orange County Register, La Opinión, and San Jose Mercury News and on many radio and TV news broadcasts. The media storm spurred Sen. Joe Simitian to sponsor a bill requiring school districts to disclose teacher salaries, an ETW policy recommendation. When rumors surfaced that Gov. Schwarzenegger might veto the legislation, we helped ETW publicize a follow-up report that fueled even greater outrage over the stark contrasts in teacher pay between neighboring schools. Under pressure, the governor finally signed the bill into law.
