Book excerpt: Reviews recent analyses of relative teacher compensation and provides a detailed analysis of trends in the relative weekly pay of elementary and secondary school teachers. Shows that teacher compensation lags that of workers with similar education and experience, as well as that of workers with comparable skill requirements, like accountants, reporters, registered nurses, computer programmers, clergy, personnel officers, and vocational counselors and inspectors. Finds that teachers' weekly wages have grown far more slowly than those for these comparable occupations; teacher wages have deteriorated about 14.8 percent since 1993 and by 12.0 percent since 1983 relative to comparable occupations.