Teacher salaries and student achievement: the case of Pennsylvania

In this article, we developed an empirical model and tested the hypothesis that teacher salaries and student achievement are positively and significantly related. A total of 500 school districts in the state of Pennsylvania for 3 school years (1999-2000, 2000-2001 and 2001-2002) were selected for a case study. Consequently, the empirical evidence revealed that the hypothesis was accepted, implying that higher teacher salaries attract better qualified teachers and thus benefits student learning and improves student achievement.