I think the salaries themselves are not the reason for student achievement's increase (if we predict it will increase), but rather the caliber of teacher. When the profession of teaching can start to attract people from Ivy League schools away from more lucrative professions like law, medicine, and finance (as this school is doing), then students are much more likely to be served well. The pay certainly helps, but the dedication, education, and attitude of the teachers is ultimately what directly affects the students.

If you do it for the money your motivation is all wrong.

This is the classic industrial management "Throw money at the problem" short term fix.

Silly. Shall we increase superintendents' salaries to a cool million with double or nothing performance bonuses?

I don't believe that a high teacher salary alone will improve student achievement. As previously stated by Mr. Moore the dedication, education, and attitude of the teacher is what directly affects the students. However, I believe that it is elitist and inaccurate to suggest that securing individuals who are Ivy League educated to become teachers can create better caliber teachers. Again, dedication, education, and attitude are very important, and teachers with these qualities can come from anywhere.

I worked at an Alternative school where we didn't earn big money but had lots of time to work with other teachers on our teams. Teachers had a great deal of autonomy in selecting coursework. We focused on creating quality, engaging work. We were respected by our peers, parents and students. We worked incredible long hours and did so much above and beyond our job description for our kids. They were chronic and habitual truants who eventually realized we cared about them and started coming to school every day, even when ill, so they wouldn't miss anything. Sure big money for what I do (urban HS) would be nice. But what matters in education is the relationships between students and teachers. Will education improve if we attract more people who are in it for the bucks? I don't think so. I worked briefly at a charter and I would not have continued there for any amount of money. It was every man and woman for him/herself. There was no professionalism, the hours were ridiculous, and the only relationships anyone cared about were with the parents. When we get away from collecting data and letting parents run the show and get back to having teachers decide what is best for their students we will improve education.

I agree on all venues~ but I also know that my teachers DESERVE more, and that we, as a Nation, do not respect or pay our teachers as well as they do in other parts of the world.

I think the pay will attract and retain a better caliber of teacher for the long haul...and then you will have the "fire and passion" AND get paid to do it...win/win!

We say we "are not in it for the money" and that is true. I have been at this for 18 years and counting...but we DESERVE to be paid on the same scale as other professions that require Masters and Doctoral level degrees! We are WORTH it!

Bottom line, we are serving as "the Peace Corps" of the 21st Century...and no one understands that we are rapidly sliding into a digital and technological divide that we need to stop NOW!

I think it is simple....with a pool of 600 applicants, you can easily select the best teachers that fit the needs of your school. For that reason alone, they will have success. They are putting the priority on having quality teachers and don't need to worry about the occasional lazy or incompetent teacher that hides behind union protection. I wish them success!

I agree with Dorothina. I find the comment about attracting people from "Ivy League" schools an interesting comment. I am a participant in a Teaching American History grant in a southern state. Some of the most amazing and brilliant teachers in our professional learning community are individuals from the small rural areas in the outlying areas around our high tech city. They are very well read, participate in professional training with nationally known historians and have their students engaged in very challenging course work.

I think the key to this is the concept of treating (and paying) teachers like the professionals they are. I don't think that a higher salary automatically leads to achievement, but it would go a long way towards easing the discrepancy of the general perception of teachers as less sophisticated / intelligent / competent / capable than the "real world" professionals in business, law, medicine, etc. However, salaries alone will not do this. What really needs to shift is the internal perception of teachers within the education community and something to break the dichotomy between the admistration & teachers.

While compensating teachers at the level their professional responsibility should command based on the objective necessity of what they should be doing in this or any other society- basically on a par with doctors and lawyers- one would surely get a higher caliber of teacher. However, the unacceptable behavior that continues to exist in our public schools is at least if not more of a factor in why we cannot keep good teachers.

When students are socially promoted year after year irrespective of their subjective ability by teachers and administrators afraid to incur the ire of their superiors by the time they get to middle school they find the very process of education to be humiliating when they are 5 years or more behind grade level. Districts are always talking about teaching to grade-level standards, but implicit in this desire is the fact that the vast majority of students in big city public schools are years behind their grade level.

In some of these school districts as many as 50% of teachers either quit or go into some out-of-classroom position, because they can no longer sustain teaching in a hostile environment where these school districts seem more concerned with getting compensation from the state for warm butts in seats than actually creating an environment that is conducive to learning and keeping good teachers.

While I do believe that teachers need to be paid for the great work they do and we do deserve greater respect, I do not see how paying a teacher more will translate into better student achievement. Student achievement is impacted by family, society, and self-motivation. A good teacher does make a difference in the lives of many teachers, and sadly, many good teachers leave teaching due to burn out. However, those that stay in teaching for thirty years do so because they believe that they can reach students, not because of how much they make. Society needs to change the way it views the educational process. It also needs to provide children with the building blocks that help cause children to be successful in school. It should no longer be acceptable for students to be promoted when they cannot read, write, or add one plus one. We should not be afraid of expecting students to be accountable for their own decisions, nor should we be afraid of holding students to high standards. Not doing so is only doing our children a disservice.