You want to pay HOW MUCH?!
19 March 2008 by gildedbutterfly
Apparently, I quit teaching too soon. Check this out.
Wow. I’ll be interested to see how it works. I like the idea, not because I think that throwing money at everything works, but because the fact that they’re going to be paying teachers so much more means that they can demand more from their teachers.
Just look at their website, for example. The requirements to apply to teach–just the first round of applications–weed out 89% of the population, because you have to have scored 90% or better on the verbal section of a grad school entrance exam. The requirements go on from there: they are rigorous, and as a result, this school will likely get the cream of the crop.
Not only are the qualifications stringent, because they are being paid so much more, teachers at this school will be required to give more time, working 7:30-6 every day and giving up all but 3 weeks of their summer for professional development. Of course, when you’re making over twice what the other teachers in NYC are making, you don’t mind all the extra requirements. And if you do, move over. There’s a stampede to apply, anyway.
I do like this idea, but wonder if it would work were it widespread. I mean, if every teacher in NYC made $125k, then we’d be in the same boat we’re in now: still needing teachers and taking what we can get, still having the more experienced and better teachers moving to the Upper East Side, etc. I think this could work because it’s the only school doing it.
Then again, if I had been making $125k when I was teaching, I would probably still be teaching, whether the rest of the teachers in NYC were making that or not. 
Yeah, if I’d made $125K instead of $38K, I would still be teaching, too. Not that I wouldn’t have still hated it (maybe I would have, who knows), but it’s amazing how much more I can tolerate when I feel I’m compensated well ;). I worked those kinds of hours anyway.
Interesting idea. Teachers aren’t paid well, but as you implied a lot isn’t typically demanded of them. While some teachers are willing to be excellent regardless, I can understand why most wouldn’t be.
strange bird–I worked those hours, too. Craziness!
sjean–Just a clarification: I in no way meant to imply that not a lot is demanded of teachers; in fact, I have worked in a lot of different jobs (including being a teacher supervisor), and have NEVER had a job where more was demanded of me. All I meant was that there are qualifications that are not always as high as they should be for teachers, because there is always a desperate need for teachers. By paying teachers more, it’s possible to demand higher quality teachers. As for the other “demands” being made by this charter school (extra hours, etc), those are not typically demands, but are expected nonetheless. (I was once written up because I left my school building at 5:30pm instead of staying later to work on my bulletin boards. Which were finished when I came into school at 6:30am the next morning. The contractual work day for me was 8-3, but the reality is, demands are made on teachers whether it’s right or not.) Difference is, now teachers can meet those expectations without having to work 2 or 3 jobs to pay the bills.
I think $125K for a great teacher is a very fair salary. Teachers and cops are radically underpaid in NYC, and probably elsewhere as well. Did you know an NYC cop starts at like $27,000? That’s insane.
Anyway…that’s a tempting idea. I meet all of the criteria except, uh, the “teaching experience” one. I suppose I could try to spin my volunteer work…
And, sort-of-relatedly, I remember a bunch of teachers at my prestigious NYC magnet schools hopping to UES private schools–one can only assume that they needed to make more money. This wasn’t an underachieving lower-income-neighborhood public school–it’s a gem of public education, and apparently they still can’t afford to pay their teachers fairly. Something is wrong with that.
“NYC magnet school,” not schoolS. It actually does change the sense, or I wouldn’t be leaving my third comment in a row…
Sorry–i think i meant educationally, not the job.
Reading my comment again, maybe I didn’t mean that, but I guess I should have meant that! Obviously I haven’t dealt with many teachers as an adult yet! I don’t think my high school teachers had that demanding of jobs, but I could be wrong. And they surely were not paid enough even for the job they did do.
Although, as I understand it, the salary is only for 9 months of the year. Not that I’m saying teachers loaf around in the summers or anything, but their formal job allows for a lot of time off. (they still are underpaid, even considering this)
By the way, I didn’t mean to offend by saying teachers don’t work hard. I’m totally willing to be corrected on anything I say about the teaching profession because I know very little about it!
Paying teachers $125K is like music to my ears. They do so much and get very little compensation for what they give. Plus, like you said, the school will get top notch teachers. It’s a win-win for students and teachers.
It would be great if teachers in all or most public schools in low-income neighborhoods could get this salary. They have the toughest job and definitely don’t get paid for it. Lord knows southeast DC could benefit…
I’m just curious about this, but do you think if all teacher salaries were $125-$150K that people would teach who don’t want to be there? I’m just wondering because of the comments that you and strange bird may have stayed in teaching for the money…I mean, do you think teaching would become like corporate work where a lot of people just do it for the money?
Ms. M&P–I don’t think there’s a danger of that! Unlike a corporate job, you can’t be in a classroom of middle schoolers without really wanting to be there!
I can’t speak for strange bird or others, but all I meant was that the teaching profession could have kept me (and I’m sure some other teachers) who really struggled to make a living. Had I made $125k (or even half of that!) as a teacher, I would have had much less incentive to leave. As it was, one of the reasons I left is that I was offered a position that paid much more, and I feel like I could have stayed longer had I felt like I fairly compensated for the work I did.