AUSTIN – With the state legislature poised to review Sunset Commission recommendations for the Texas Education Agency in 2015, the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Education Freedom will host a panel to discuss how teachers are compensated and whether the single-step salary structure achieves professional status and pay for Texas teachers. The panel, “Markets and Teacher Compensation,” will be held during TPPF’s 13th Annual Policy Orientation for the Texas Legislature on Thursday, January 8, 2015 at 3:25 p.m. CST at the Sheraton Austin Hotel in the Capitol View Terrace North.
“Teachers are the single most important component of a good education, and should be treated and rewarded as the professionals they are,” said TPPF Center for Education Freedom Director Kent Grusendorf. “This panel will explore whether the single-step salary structure has achieved professional status for Texas teachers and how teachers can function as true professionals and be paid accordingly. This promises to be a lively discussion.”
Panelists include:
- Dr. Herb Walberg, Retired Professor, Harvard University and The University of Chicago
- Dr. Vance Ginn, Economist, Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Fiscal Policy
- Louis Malfaro, Secretary-Treasurer, Texas American Federation of Teachers
- Sen. Larry Taylor, District 11, Texas State Senate (Moderator)
For thirteen years, the Foundation’s Policy Orientation has been one of the nation’s top policy conferences, selling out each year while bringing together lawmakers, policy experts, and engaged citizens from across the political spectrum to discuss critical issues facing the Lone Star State and America. Last year’s Policy Orientation attracted approximately 700 attendees including nearly 100 state legislators and hundreds of legislative staff from both sides of the aisle.
This year’s program includes more than 35 panel discussions and debates on the major issues affecting Texas’ future. The program will be updated with additional events and speakers in the coming weeks. Members of the public and media who wish to attend may register and view the agenda at: www.PolicyOrientation.com
The Honorable Kent Grusendorf, Senior Fellow & Director of the Center for Education Freedom at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, represented Arlington in the Texas Legislature for twenty years, focusing on education. Serving on the House Public Education Committee and various Select Committees, he played a significant role in crafting legislative responses to the Edgewood I, Edgewood II, Edgewood III, Edgewood IV, and West Orange Cove school-finance court decisions.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.