This study examines the potential effects of structural characteristics of teacher labor markets on attempts to provide equal educational opportunity by revising state educational finance systems. After presenting some crude data on teachers' salaries and current per-pupil spending, the authors present a four-step analysis. First, they specify a model of the labor market for teachers and then derive a formulation for the reduced form wage equation. Second, they estimate the wage equations for teachers from data for the 83 largest U.S. cities and the 48 contiguous states. Third, they use these wage equations to predict the wage differentials for different cities and states that would exist if teacher demand variables were held at their average values for the entire sample, while teacher supply variables were left free to vary. Finally, they explore the policy implications of their findings and conclude that no ideal way of providing equal educational opportunity exists. (Author/JG)