Our ability to compete for the jobs of tomorrow depends, above all, on our capacity to educate children today. Yet we are still operating under yesterday's system to attract and retain new, talented teachers. It is outdated and designed to fail.
Study after study affirms what I saw in the classroom every day as superintendent of Denver Public Schools: Nothing makes a bigger difference for student learning than great teaching. To get enough of the teachers we need, teaching has to be a great job where talented people are supported and rewarded.
That won't happen without reforming a compensation system that was designed deep in the last century for a labor market that no longer exists. It's based on a society that discriminated against women, and left them with limited professional options.
When talented women had to choose between becoming teachers or nurses, we could convince them to teach "Julius Caesar'' for 30 years with a small salary that built toward a generous pension in retirement. Fortunately, women today can choose from an array of lucrative professions. But our system of teacher compensation has yet to evolve to reflect this choice.
We pay new teachers extremely low starting salaries. They are eligible for only small increases as they advance through their careers. But instead of competitive salaries, we offer a pension system that is back-loaded. It invests potential early-career earnings into late-career rewards, causing teachers' total compensation to swell at the end of their careers. The effective cost to the system can be $150,000 or more a year.
This setup provides perverse incentives: Teachers who are ready to move on might stick it out in the classroom until they qualify for full retirement benefits. Meanwhile, new teachers aren't enticed. Nearly 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession within the first five years, well prior to achieving full benefits.
We urgently need a new system -- one that provides competitive salaries from the start, and opportunity for growth, attracting talented people entering the workforce to the profession.
Top-performing teachers who take on the toughest challenges should have the opportunity to make six-figure incomes early in their careers. We should differentiate their salaries based on the difficulty of their assignments and their ability to drive results in the classroom.
And when those teachers are ready to leave the classroom, they'll have the same flexibility so many of their peers have in today's workforce.
Every teacher who has entered under the current system is owed what they were promised. Honoring the commitments that have been made while financing a new system will take some creativity. But we have to do it to be successful.
Across the nation, districts have begun recognizing this reality and are beginning to redesign their pay structures.
When I served as superintendent, we worked collaboratively with the union to institute a groundbreaking compensation system, ProComp. It increased starting compensation by 20 percent. It also rewards teachers based on their performance, for taking on tough assignments, and for teaching in hard-to-staff subjects.
A recent study showed that since the system was implemented, first-year teachers exhibited higher achievement, and schools with large percentages of teachers participating in the new system have higher rates of retention.
Teacher compensation isn't the only factor in cultivating great teaching. Other important priorities include changing how we measure student performance, providing more flexibility to teacher-preparation programs, and improving how we train and support principals.
Yet with a million teachers set to retire nationwide in the next few years, an inadequate system to recruit and retain new teachers, and schools that are struggling to meet high expectations, we can no longer afford to continue a 20th-century system in a 21st-century world. It is time we reform our compensation structure to allow us to recruit from a strong pool of talent and to prevent us from losing our most successful newcomers to other jobs.
Originally appeared in The Boston Globe.
Michael Bennet, a Democratic senator from Colorado, is the former superintendent of schools in Denver.
Follow Sen. Michael Bennet on Twitter: www.twitter.com/senbennetco
NFL quarterback? Not many can do that. Hence the high pay.
Teacher? Lots of people can do that. Hence the low pay. (Not to mention 3 months off for summer)
Everyone would like to make more money. But come on. Let's get real.
Californians suffers from 19% unemployment (includes those working part time, and those no longer searching), mortgage defaults, loss of unemployment benefits. And those who still have jobs are working longer for less. Chancellor/Faculty wages must reflect California's ability to pay, not what others are paid.
UC Berkeley (Cal) planned pay raises for generously paid Faculty is arrogance. UC Berkeley (ranked # 70 Forbes) tuition increases exceed national average rate of increase. Chancellor Birgeneau’s leadership molded Cal into the most expensive public university in the USA.
Can we do better with a spirit of shared sacrifices by Faculty, Provosts, and Chancellors?
(17,000 earn more than $100,000)
No furloughs.
18 percent decrease UCOP salaries, $50 million budget cut.
18 percent prune chancellors' salaries.
15 percent trim tenured faculty salaries, increase teaching.
10 percent non-tenured faculty pay decrease, increase research, teaching.
100% elimination of Academic Senate, Academic Council budgets.
There is no question the necessary realignments with reality will be painful.
UC Board of Regents Chair Sherry Lansing can bridge the public trust gap with reassurances salaries reflect depressed California wages. Yours is the voice that can make the difference, email UC Board of Regents marsha.kelman@ucop.edu
Maybe funds could be found to compensate the teacher's salaries, whom are still employed
Being that 46 out of 50 States severely cut funding to Education in which to balance their States' 2011-12 budgets, causing school districts to lay-off teachers
Senator Bennett's home state of Colorado was one of those 46 states ~ slashing $225 million from their Education funding
TARIFFS TARIFFS TARIFFS TARIFFS TARIFFS TARIFFS TARIFFS
Will bring the jobs back Will bring the jobs back Will bring the jobs back
And lower taxes And lower taxes And lower taxes And lower taxes
This all assumes one day this country will have jobs other then pressing the french fry button on a McDonalds cash register.
Enough is enough..................................................
Bring back TARIFFS............................................................
I would argue two things. We are doing this through the NCLB (national guidelines, meeting testing standards, etc.). Second, by decentralizing we allow states and communities to address regional issues. I don't have a problem with national guidelines (basics that all children need) but our current system is lacking in teaching some basic skills, I think it could be better addressed on a statewide system. Then again, it might not work (State/Local) but something needs to change. I definitely think we need more technical/trade/2yr schools. Too often kids go deep into dept to pay for a 5 year degree (I don't know a lot of do it in 4) for something they don't necessarily need to pursue a career.
Teachers in Chicago get $69,000. That's more money than the median for people with PhDs. ($1,533 per week based on a 45 week year vs. $1,532 for PhD workers.)
Yes, teachers pay needs to get in step with the people who are paying them. It needs to be significantly cut.
Look at this: "In 2009, the median of the earnings for young adults with a bachelor's degree was $45,000, while the median was $21,000 for those without a high school diploma or its equivalent, $30,000 for those with a high school diploma or its equivalent, and $36,000 for those with an associate's degree. In other words, young adults with a bachelor's degree earned more than twice as much as those without a high school diploma or its equivalent in 2009 (i.e., 114 percent more), 50 percent more than young adult high school completers, and 25 percent more than young adults with an associate's degree. In 2009, the median of the earnings of young adults with a master's degree or higher was $60,000, some 33 percent more than the median for young adults with a bachelor's degree." Source: http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=77
When you say teachers in Chicago get $69,000 is that an average or the median?
"Starting salary for Chicago police officers in 2007 was $43,104, increased to $60,918 after one year and to $64,374 after 18 months. Promotions to specialized or command positions also increases an officer's base pay. Salaries were supplemented with a $3,020 annual duty availability and an $1,800 annual uniform allowance."
Make of that what you will.
_____________________________________________________________________
Those are the majority of jobs left in this country and they help pay your salary...........
I find those who reference poor typing instead of the thoughts and ideas
are usually the ones with the weaker argumentsnd sometime minds.
A narrow view of the problem and selecting facts to back up that narrow view does not lead to a truthful discussion nor a resolution to the problem. I stand by my statement and add that we have continually thrown money at this problem and have only slid further down the hill. A problem not isolated to this discussion.
I will also add that this group of individuals are the only ones in the world that can scream we have your precious children so you should pay us more without the authorities and swat teams paying a visit followed by a long stretch in prison.
Post again if you must, but I only sense a deterioration and non productive discussion in our communications. I also sense a further refusal of educators in charge, teachers unions and their biased supporters to come up with a structure that will prepare our children for jobs in the 21st century and too think of anyone else but themselves
I will hire a proof reader in the future to make it easier.
"The 2008 ACS median earnings of men in the United States who worked full-time, year-round were $45,556. For women, the median earnings were $35,471, or 77.9 percent of men’s earnings."
Your data on CPS ignores the adjustments to cost of living that lead to their higher wages. You use the national median to generalize to a specific high cost area, which is not good statistical analysis.
I do agree with you that people should prove their worth, however the nature of educating children makes this statement difficult: The one where your production is measured every day and compared to your co workers or an established standard. Also, during the course of a school year teachers work more hours than what the contract requires because work goes home. When you average it out, it is more on par with other workers.
Most public schools within Western major industrial nations, in fact, DO try to educate everyone. I say that as a Canadian with a fairly good knowledge of our public school system.
I fanned you on an earlier comment. Staying fanned also.