Rules like the so - called comparability loophole — which allows districts to use average instead
of actual teacher salaries for budget calculations — mean federal dollars are not getting to the schools and students who need them the most.
In 2012, the Center for American Progress issued its «Unequal Education» report, which analyzed the first wave of DOE per - school expenditure data that
included actual teacher salaries.
Staff - based school budgets are based on an average teacher salary instead of actual teacher salaries
Support for increasing salaries dropped by 20 percentage points (from 91 to 71 percent) among African Americans who were told
about actual teacher salaries.
Similar patterns emerge when looking at the difference between estimated and
actual teacher salaries, though the differences are slightly less pronounced.
Best Practices Spotlight: Budgeting for Equity: Average vs.
Actual Teacher Salaries An infographic by Allovue and Reason Foundation explains the differences between allocating funding based on average and actual teacher salaries and how this ultimately affects equity.