I'd really like everyone to check out this cool article at the NY Times. Education is a topic near and dear to my heart.
A young entrepreneur is starting a charter school in New York with a simple concept. A no-frills, low overhead school that pays teachers well. Like $125,000 dollars of well. In order to afford those salaries, the school has almost no administration - just one principal who actually makes 30K LESS than the teachers. The school has almost no extracurricular activities. Just Latin and music. Teachers are expecting to work year round and take care of discipline, counseling and many other responsibilities they normally punt.
The minimum qualifications are high. Teachers must score in the 90th percentile on the GMAT in math or English.
I taught high school for 3 years, and would still be teaching if I could have been making even 75K a year. But for the 40K I was earning, I really had to ask myself: is it worth it? I scored in the 99th percentile on the verbal GMAT. I was certified in two subjects. I had two master's degrees. My students, in my first year of teaching English, scored about 5 percent higher than the average in my department on the TAKS test (with teachers who had taught English for decades.) I had excellent evaluations, every year. And yet I was making as much as the worst new teacher in the school. The most I would ever make after 30 years of teaching is 65K.
I finally decided it just wasn't worth the headaches and stress. I can make that same salary on one real estate project in 4 months. I love to teach and would be happy to get back into it, but I'm no saint. It's difficult work and doing it well requires knowledge and skill. And someone who does it well at a high level deserves professional pay.
I hope this idea takes off. It may just get me back into teaching. Or I may choose rapping. Check out this video of 50 Cent throwing money into a weird moat full of fans:
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4 comments:
This is something I can get behind. Heck, I would love to teach history and political science, or rhetoric or math, if I was making the same scratch I was making now. More creative solutions, flexibility, vouchers, etc. is what's needed. I wonder how the local teachers unions feel about this endeavor, though?
WD
I don't know about the teacher unions. I imagine they are against it, because they don't want to subject their members to high standards.
The principals unions sure hate it! Read the article.
I had excellent evaluations, every year. And yet I was making as much as the worst new teacher in the school. The most I would ever make after 30 years of teaching is 65K.I had excellent evaluations, every year. And yet I was making as much as the worst new teacher in the school. The most I would ever make after 30 years of teaching is 65K.
Speaking of Teacher's Union...you have them to thank for that sucky situation.
I agree. Teacher's unions blow. But it's a chicken-egg problem. When teacher's get paid so little, they have to unionize to protect the crappy working conditions they have. Otherwise the conditions would get even worse. Believe me, every administrator and legislator in the world tries to lean on teachers because they think "if I just put a little more pressure on teachers, student performance will rise..." but teachers are never compensated for working harder or being better. That is manifestly unfair, so they hire unions to keep those pressures off their backs.
They are basically organizing to protect low standards and tenure, because they can get that, and have given up on ever expecting decent professional pay. I believe if school districts started paying well, teacher's would have less incentive to organize.
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