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Pulling apart

A state-by-state analysis of income trends

by Jared Bernstein, Elizabeth McNichol, and Andrew Nicholas

Co-published by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute

Press Release
State Data Tables
State-specific fact sheets: See map below

Holding Accountability to Account: How Scholarship and Experience in Other Fields Inform Exploration of Performance Incentives in Education

by Richard Rothstein

Accountability and performance incentive plans in education are compromised by goal distortion, gaming, and corruption. Education policy makers who design such plans have paid insufficient attention to similar experiences in other fields. This paper by Richard Rothstein describes institutions in health care, job training and welfare administration, and in the private sector, that employ performance incentive systems, and the perverse consequences that follow. Because of such consequences, private sector performance incentives rely primarily on subjective evaluations, not easily corrupted quantitative measurements. In the public sector and service professions like teaching, performance incentives run the risk of subverting the intrinsic motivation of agents. The paper notes, however, that despite goal distortion, gaming, and corruption, performance incentive plans may nonetheless improve average performance on measured dimensions.

This publication is available here [PDF]

by Richard Rothstein, Rebecca Jacobsen, and Tamara Wilder

The “achievement gap” usually refers to the difference between black and white students’ basic skills test scores. But education and youth development consists of more than basic skills — it also includes critical thinking, social skills and a work ethic, citizenship and community responsibility, physical health, emotional health, appreciation of the arts and literature, and preparation for skilled work. Greater equity in outcomes requires narrowing the achievement gap in each of these areas. In this “Report Card on Comprehensive Equity” (prepared for the Campaign for Educational Equity at Teachers College, Columbia University), Richard Rothstein, Rebecca Jacobsen, and Tamara Wilder estimate the black-white achievement gaps in each of these aspects of education and youth development, and illustrate the types of data gathering which should be undertaken for ongoing measurement of these gaps.

This paper is available in PDF format

by Richard Rothstein, Rebecca Jacobsen, and Tamara Wilder

This paper is available in PDF format.  

Pulling apart

A state-by-state analysis of income trends

by Jared Bernstein, Elizabeth McNichol, and Karen Lyons

This report is available in PDF format.

Read the news release.

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State-specific fact sheets containing information on income inequality over the past two decades, including the changes in average incomes and income ratios, are provided through the links below.

Up From Deficit Reduction

by Max B. Sawicky

This publication is available in PDF format.

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The Limits of Privitization

by Paul Starr

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The Roots of the Public Sector Fiscal Crisis

by Max B. Sawicky

This publication is available in PDF format.

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The Low-Wage Challenge to Global Growth

The Labor Cost-Productivity Imbalance in Newly Industrialized Countries

by Walter Russell Mead

This publication is available in PDF format.