Paying teachers $125,000 a year

[Independent voter]

It's a lot of money but the students are doing better. Teachers do the work of administrators so there is that savaing. Read more at this link

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nyc-char...00-experiment/

With state after state confronting massive budget problems, several governors have been looking to extract whatever they can from public employees like teachers, going after benefits packages and guaranteed job security that unions have won for them. But would teachers be willing to give up those protections for a chance to earn a lot more money?

Katie Couric on paying teachers $125K a year
With a national debate raging over teacher pay, pension, and tenure, Katie Couric explores one New York City public school where change is already underway.

There's a school in New York City that's trying to prove just that. It's a bold new experiment in public education called "TEP," which stands for The Equity Project, a charter school that is publicly funded but privately run. It's offering its teachers $125,000 a year - more than double the national average.

TEP aims to prove that attracting the best and brightest teachers and holding them accountable for results is the essential ingredient to a school's success. Could this school become a national model for the future of public education? That's the $125,000 question.

"You pay your teachers $125,000 a year, which is a lot of money for a teacher in this country. Why?" Katie Couric asked Zeke Vanderhoek, the school's founder and principal.

"Because they're worth it, because teachers are the key, and if we can pay them this with the existing dollars, why aren't we doing it?" he replied.

They're doing it at TEP because Vanderhoek, 34, a former teacher, gets to decide who he hires and how much he pays them.

Asked how he thinks these high salaries will impact student achievement, Vanderhoek told Couric, "I don't think paying people more makes them a better teacher. You take a mediocre teacher, you double their salary, nothing's gonna change. So, if you wanna attract and retain talent, you have to pay for it. "

"And that is ultimately how student achievement will be impacted," he added.

"60 Minutes" has been following the school since it opened its doors a year and a half ago in Washington Heights, a poor, mostly Hispanic neighborhood in upper Manhattan.

There are currently 247 fifth and sixth graders and 15 teachers; classes will eventually run through the eighth grade.

Asked how TEP teachers differ from teachers in other public schools, Vanderhoek said, "They're not. There are great teachers in almost every public school in the city. The difference is that they are often the exception, not the rule. So what we're trying to do is build a school where every teacher is a great teacher."

To find those teachers, Vanderhoek launched a nationwide talent search that's been called the "American Idol" of education. Thousands of applicants have sent in resumes and those who make it to the final round have to spend a day trying out in front of a very tough crowd.

"The first class of teachers, what qualities were you looking for?" Couric asked.

"Their ability to produce some evidence that the students in their classrooms move from point A to point B," Vanderhoek explained. "In order for students to demonstrate that growth, they have to be into it. And so the teacher has to be able to engage students."

The chosen include Joe Carbone, a former NBA trainer, Rhena Jasey, a Harvard grad who's been teaching for eight years, and Gina Galassi, an accomplished violist who teaches music.

"When you first saw the ad that said the starting salary would be $125,000, what did you think?" Couric asked Galassi.

"I thought too good to be true. I said 'This is like some wacko cult' or something. It didn't make sense, you know. What was the catch?" she replied.

[Daethz]

$125k for a public service job is too much.
Not when people are still making $7.25/hr or less for back breaking physical work that ruins their bodies in under 25 years.

But I knew a teacher that was making under 30k/yr and decided to quit and pursue the medical career instead.
For a Masters degree, under 30k/yr is way unacceptable.

[Elegiac]

$125k for a public service job is too much.
Not when people are still making $7.25/hr or less for back breaking physical work that ruins their bodies in under 25 years.

Said backbreaking work doesn't involve the very future of our society.

Why shouldn't public service jobs be highly paid? They're arguably more important than private sector jobs by definition.

[Daethz]

Said backbreaking work doesn't involve the very future of our society.

Well, society would break down if they all refused to work.

$7.25/hr or less in my mind is slavery, and should be called what it is.
If you have a problem with slavery, you should have a problem with the current minimum wage for the majority of america.

[The One Percent]

$125k for a public service job is too much.
Not when people are still making $7.25/hr or less for back breaking physical work that ruins their bodies in under 25 years.

But I knew a teacher that was making under 30k/yr and decided to quit and pursue the medical career instead.
For a Masters degree, under 30k/yr is way unacceptable.

Machines will be replacing those physical labor jobs (and already are). Machines won't be directly and solely teaching our children for quite a while.No factory worker or construction worker is worth as much as a teacher of the same level of skill in their respective jobs.

Not saying that there isn't a problem with the minimum wage, but let's keep things in perspective.

[WskyDK]

I'm all for paying teachers 125k a year, if we're able to fire the ones who don't perform or are there to collect a paycheck.

[Cthulhu 2020]

Said backbreaking work doesn't involve the very future of our society.

Why shouldn't public service jobs be highly paid? They're arguably more important than private sector jobs by definition.

It's scary how people are willing to put the future of our country in the hands of underpaid, overworked public servants. Then again, it's a lot easier to shove Fox News sound bites into people's minds when they don't know any better.

[v2prwsmb45yhuq3wj23vpjk]

Said backbreaking work doesn't involve the very future of our society.

Why shouldn't public service jobs be highly paid? They're arguably more important than private sector jobs by definition.

Umm, actually it kinda does. How do you think houses are built?

In any case, for this school, I worry that it will create pressure that will result in number-fudging, but I can understand the idea. Hopefully I'm wrong.

[Captain N]

I'm completely OK with this. Currently we pay people with an education far too little ($81,000/year for a doctorate on average) and complain at the results of our education system. Just like anything else - If you pay people better and keep their morale high you will get a better employee and better results.

[Chingylol]

If it shows results, the 125k is totally justifiable.

Also remember this is in NYC, where a pack of smokes costs $13 and it costs $2000 a month to live in a small single room with a 6 foot kitchen (seriously) in a decent area.

[Drsolders]

I wouldn't say 125k but maybe 50-60k is where it needs to be. That's imo of course.

[Chingylol]

I wouldn't say 125k but maybe 50-60k is where it needs to be. That's imo of course.

Making 125k in NYC is equal to making about 40-45k anywhere else. It's ridiculously expensive.

[Merkava]

I disagree, it should be AT LEAST 125k. Money will attract the best and brightest to flock towards the job. I think you severly underestimate the importance of your everyday elementary/middle/high school teacher.

(see: every thread where Americans fuck up)

You're fine with no union, no contract, no tenure?

[Drsolders]

Making 125k in NYC is equal to making about 40-45k anywhere else. It's ridiculously expensive.

And in South Carolina it is a LOT of money. 24k here is a decent amount, obviously not the same in other areas. Pay needs to depend on
region.

http://taxfoundation.org/blog/real-value-100-each-state

For example in SC $100 is actually worth $110.25

in NY it is worth $86.66

I disagree, it should be AT LEAST 125k. Money will attract the best and brightest to flock towards the job. I think you severly underestimate the importance of your everyday elementary/middle/high school teacher.

(see: every thread where Americans fuck up)

Money also attracts idiots who want money. The only reason everyone and their mom isn't a doctor is because medical school is hard to get into.

[theredviola]

$125k for a public service job is too much.

Public service? Fuck you, with-out us society would crumble.

[cityguy193]

Money also attracts idiots who want money. The only reason everyone and their mom isn't a doctor is because medical school is hard to get into.

There are easier ways to earn more money than to become a doctor...
Everyone and their mom would be going into more lucrative easier fields than medicine, which is exactly what happens most of the time.

[Tradewind]

I'm all for paying teachers their fair due. $125k seems a bit much though. Unless of course they're being held to a very high standard as well. I've had a few teachers that would be worth that kind of salary, I've also had some that weren't worth half that...

[Drsolders]

I'm all for paying teachers their fair due. $125k seems a bit much though. Unless of course they're being held to a very high standard as well. I've had a few teachers that would be worth that kind of salary, I've also had some that weren't worth half that...

I can count on 1 hand how many even deserved to have a job when I was in High School. The ones who were good were REALLY good. As someone going into Education I can only hope I'm half as good as them.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

I can count on 1 hand how many even deserved to have a job when I was in High School. The ones who were good were REALLY good. As someone going into Education I can only hope I'm half as good as them.

I can only think of say one but I guess the question is. What defines a good teacher? What are the requisites?

[Flame6]

I think the median wage of teachers in my middle class county in California is about 75k. I think even that is over paying them.