Some research has suggested that teachers would rather have improved work conditions, such as smaller classes, than more money. After various twists and turns, an agreement calls for each school in the 647,000-student district to spend about the same amount, adjusted for size and type of school, on teachers and other staff members. But because teachers are not forced to change schools, some schools have not been able to find and hire the more experienced, more expensive teachers. Those schools get money to bring up their spending to levels specified in the consent decree, but they may spend it on professional development and even supplies rather than salaries. Senior teachers tend to get the best classrooms, materials, and students, he notes.
Districts can also make a difference with other resources, including space and students.
System administrators can try to ease the effects of huge school size and overcrowding. And they can rework the feeder patterns that, for instance, funnel all the children from the weakest elementary schools into one middle school. But the politics and torpor that pervade some district bureaucracies can make such changes nearly impossible to pull off. Chronic budget crises, labor disputes, and turnover in top management can drown even the most spirited efforts at the school level. Steven Ross, a professor of education research at the University of Memphis, credits Memphis Superintendent Gerry N. House with guiding her district through the first, critical stage of reform.