- Results show striking differences in the qualifications of teachers across schools. Urban schools, in particular, have lesser-qualified teachers, and New York City stands out among urban areas.
- Low-income, low-achieving and non-White students, particularly those in urban areas, find themselves in classes with many of the least skilled teachers.
- Salary variation rarely compensates for the apparent difficulties of teaching in urban settings and, in some cases, contributes to the inequities in teacher resources across schools.
- Policies that aim to improve the achievement of low-performing students but ignore teacher labor-market dynamics are unlikely to impact the sorting of teachers that appears to strongly disadvantage poor, urban students.