Posted on 03/07/2008 7:48:16 PM PST by Amelia
A New York City charter school set to open in 2009 in Washington Heights will test one of the most fundamental questions in education: Whether significantly higher pay for teachers is the key to improving schools.
The school, which will run from fifth to eighth grades, is promising to pay teachers $125,000, plus a potential bonus based on schoolwide performance. That is nearly twice as much as the average New York City public school teacher earns, roughly two and a half times the national average teacher salary and higher than the base salary of all but the most senior teachers in the most generous districts nationwide.
The school’s creator and first principal, Zeke M. Vanderhoek, contends that high salaries will lure the best teachers. He says he wants to put into practice the conclusion reached by a growing body of research: that teacher quality — not star principals, laptop computers or abundant electives — is the crucial ingredient for success.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
YO!
My school district had its budget voted down on the first run (passed on the second) two years in a row. Caused the gay superintendent who had gotten a sports car and other benefits for his live-in partner to leave in shame. No one was happy with the school board for that nonsense.
Actually make that a small town poulated by the nouveau riche.. but no matter. It’s like that all over N.E.
Then the solution is:
Less bureacracy so that less paperwork is needed
Books that don’t change nearly as often, so less cirriculum planning is needed
More scantron tests
“it seems to be that elementary teachers are dumb, while high school teachers are very strong on academically”
Your bias is showing.
Twenty seven states x 32 years + witnessing thousands of teachers = first hand knowledge. And trust me, even though I was not the one to use the word ignorant and you were, there are a lot of ignorant teachers in America. Mostly, there are a lot of lazy teachers in America.
Forget the engineers, we would be better off bringing in teachers from India.
Teachers spend more time with students than their parents. If you don’t have the heart to teach, the students results will not be changed by merely money. Kids always know what’s real and what’s not.
Okay, you read the article, but you still think teachers who are willing to take larger than average classes of low-performing children, who must undergo multiple "telephone and in-person interviews" as well as "three live teaching auditions," and must also "submit multiple forms of evidence attesting to their students’ achievement and their own prowess" are probably "on autopilot" and are being judged on their performance on a single test?
These folks are clueless, and worse, they are dangerous.
Unless there is an incentive pay scale, this is nothing more than a different way to extract more money from the taxpayers and transfer it to teachers pockets. At the children’s expense.
So they are going to only take the top 10% as measured by testing? Big friggin deal. How about getting someone from industry who knows the subject at hand? How about getting teachers who have proven they can teach? No, lets keep selecting teachers they way we’ve been selecting them for decades.
BECAUSE, this is about setting up a PC school that “caters to the poor people”, not to those who can excel.
This kind of feeling instead of thinking is why the United States school system is an unmitigated disaster.
How long have you been teaching?
You’ve never actually held a job in the real world, have you?
Do me a favor, go ask any U.S. Marine if jumping through those “interviews, auditions, and multiple forms” for a six digit paycheck would be an ordeal. When they are through laughing at you, come back here and buy a clue for $100.
“Teachers spend more time with students than their parents.”
Cow dung.
Almost 15 years.
You’ve never actually held a job in the real world, have you?
Actually, yes, I have, for about the same period of time I've been teaching. It paid a lot better, but the intrinsic rewards were much less.
Have you ever taught school?
Do me a favor, go ask any U.S. Marine if jumping through those “interviews, auditions, and multiple forms” for a six digit paycheck would be an ordeal. When they are through laughing at you, come back here and buy a clue for $100.
So are you a U.S. Marine? And would you consider teaching at this charter school?
Read the full article and get back with me.
To label all teachers as ignorant is simply ignorant.
Well. All of that quote belongs to you. I'm sure, with your immense brilliance, you'll have no trouble explaining the contradiction.
You’ve never held a job that required you to wear a beeper, have you?
Try being beeped 24/7 x 365 days a year. Yes, that’s right, even on vacation. Because when the multimillion dollar computers go down and none of the idiot middle managers back at the office know what to do and heaven forbid some teacher might miss their flight for their latest junket and complain to their congressman, someone has to be there to unscrew things. And guess what? That someone is definitely not making six digits, nor do they have premium health care, or a golden retirement package.
Oh...please...don’t talk logic!
Please put me on the public school list...
Having worked in both public & private sectors and as both an individual contributor and a middle manager, I’d say there are slackers in both environments, but it sucks for everybody below V.P. level.
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