The $125,000 Salary Experiment

Two weeks ago The New York Times reported a story on a newly formed Brooklyn charter school whose founder, according to The Times, seeks to answer one simple question with his venture: will $125,000 salaries attract the best teachers?

This charter school, which will open next year to 120 students in grades 5-8, is a product of The Equity Project, the brainchild of Zeke M. Vanderhoek, a former middle school teacher turned entrepreneur who will also serve as the charter school's first principal. Vanderhoek plans to make the $125,000 salaries viable by inverting the traditional hierarchy among teachers and administrators (the principal will earn only $90,000) and by cutting back on support staff, administrators and technology. For their part, teachers will be expected to work longer hours and more months out of the year.

As I see it, there's little doubt that high salaries will attract well-trained, accomplished and effective teachers. And there are other significant questions raised by this $125K experiment. To start: if salaries are tied to student performance, how will performance be measured? If today's educational climate is any guide, it can only be one thing: tests.

Following that: If the student performance rises, what impact will the $125K experiment have on teacher pay in other localities? And on the flip side, what lessons will be learned from a failed experiment? That teacher quality, though a significant factor in student achievement, isn't the only factor? We already know that a stable home life, parental involvement, and support for ELL and special ed students are significant factors as well.

Those writing in the classroom blogosphere also have questions. There are many excellent conversations out there among teachers. Dan, a high school math teacher in California, started a great conversation among his readers on the merits of this experiment and the problems that may arise in assessing student achievement; here's my favorite response:

"I wonder if they'd accept, as an example of student achievement, work from the student with Down Syndrome who was in my class for 'socialization' a couple of years ago and who progressed from sitting in class with his hands down his pants to circling 'yes' or 'no' in answer to questions about a photo."

Edwize contends that you don't need to sacrifice support staff, administrators and technology for high teacher salaries. A history professor wonders if higher salaries for secondary teachers will break down stigmas within the profession between teachers at the high school, community college and university levels. A teacher's wife is skeptical that higher salaries could fix the discipline problems and bureaucratic oppression that plagued her husband's teaching career, while a former teacher thinks a $125K salary might have kept her in the profession. A school board member in South Dakota is looking to see if such an experiment might work in his state. Mike Antonucci, the teachers' union watch dog, is laying in the tall grass, waiting to see how NEA, AFT and others will respond.

It will be interesting, to say the least, to see how this $125K salary experiment turns out. We're all watching.

--Joe Hammond