[cherry]

Rochester,NY tried something like this several years ago....gave teachers $90,000 a year......I haven't heard much about the success rate so I assume it was another NEA payback/boondoggle.....

why teachers should be compensated so much above social workers, police, counselors, cpas', etc is beyond me...they work 1/2 a year in reality....

[tj21807]

Sorry, as a teacher I disagree. The calender year may show only 190 days...but most private-sector people only work 240 days a year.

The days may work out to be less, but the hours certainly do not, I (and most other teacher’s I know) spend about 12 hours a day between work, planning, and grading.

Trust me we (at least the ones who care) work the same hours every year just in fewer days. The whole time we have to deal with dead-beat parents and incompetent administrators.

I don’t disagree that some teachers are overpaid or a waste of space. However, there are many more who do a lot of work and really are not well compensated compared to the private sector.

[Amelia]

The article is interesting...supposedly there will be a very rigorous selection process for these teachers; for example "only those scoring at the 90th percentile in the verbal section of the GRE, GMAT or similar tests need apply"...

Also the teachers will work longer hours and assume more duties than the normal NY teacher, and the students will tend to be from the lower socioeconomic levels.