State and federal accountability systems are pressuring public schools to improve the performance of low-achieving students. To respond, schools must be able to recruit and retain high-quality teachers, strengthen curricula, and take other steps to provide struggling students with the help they need. But such efforts are expensive and, as the nation faces the cost of caring for an aging population and other challenges in the years ahead, it appears unlikely that education will receive a great deal of new funding. Education leaders will increasingly have to scrutinize existing budgets to find ways to fund reform initiatives. One potentially valuable source of funds for reform are common provisions in teacher contracts that obligate schools to spend large amounts of money on programs that lack a clear link to student achievement. This report examines eight such provisions: (1) Increases in teacher salaries based on years of experience; (2) Increases in teacher salaries based on educational credentials and experiences; (3) Professional development days; (4) Number of paid sick and personal days; (5) Class-size limitations; (6) Use of teachers' aides; (7) Health and insurance benefits; and (8) Retirement benefits. The report estimates the total spending on these provisions in public education, examines studies on the provisions' effects on student achievement, and explores how these assets might be put to different use. The author advocates that restricting resources that may be better used elsewhere diminishes both the quality of schools and the professional lives of teachers. Calculations of Salary Increment Costs for Master's Degrees and Longevity are appended. (Contains 13 endnotes and 9 tables.)