Teacher Pay Has No Correlation With Education Quality

"Florida has one of the lowest levels of teacher pay in the nation, but has some of the best education outcomes. "

Florida ranks 28th out of 51.

http://www.census.gov/statab/ranks/rank20.html

"Charter schools, too, routinely outperform traditional public schools."

Recent research indicates that students 17% of charters do significantly better; 37% of charter schools they performed significantly worse, and students in the remaining 46% of charter schools did not perform significantly better or worse than if they had attended their neighborhood traditional public school.

http://www.data-first.org/questions/how-do-charter-schools-compare-to-regular-public-schools-in-student-performance/

"Teacher pay is an issue that should be settled within the context of schools trying to outcompete one another, both for students and teachers. Each school will try to hire the best teachers possible, with the best teachers earning the most pay."

Increased student outcome does not create increased income for the school. The business model does not compare to a service model. By this standard, general practitioners should be paid more than oncologists or surgeons since their patient outcome tends to be better.

Saying something that is informed and cogent contributes to the public debate. SayingAnything--not so much.

Susan Graham of VA 12:08AM November 14, 2011

Teachers who genuinely care for students and teach them well should be well-compensated for doing so. Teachers who choose to work in our most challenging schools, and who show that they can help their students excel, should be well-paid. Outstanding teachers who help train the next generation of teachers should be fairly compensated for their time. Right now, none of those statements is standard practice in America. We were promised in many places that if we did not push for professional level wages, we would be compensated in our retirement pensions. Now, even that small, hard-earned promise is being broken. In the countries with which we compete in the global economy, teachers are highly trained, highly esteemed, and highly paid. The few nickel-and-dime programs we have attempted are insufficient evidence for the argument that higher teacher pay has no effect on student learning.

Renee Moore of MS 10:20PM November 10, 2011

Athletes and entertainers whose work occupies the moment are overpaid.

Teachers, whose work endures and creates the future, are underpaid.

dennis Kelly of CA 2:00PM November 10, 2011

That is all they are about, compensation, it is the crux of everything. It is there job to educate just like it is my job to parent. They know the salary when they attend college, they know the drawbacks and hopefull they weigh there options. Is it not ironic that they are never worried about anyone else's salary? Is it not ironic that they have to keep dumbing down ACT scores, is it not ironic that many prestigious colleges do not even use the ACT scores anymore for admission they use an interview procedure, why is this? The reason is because there is so much cheating associated with these things that big colleges do not even take them into account. They have moved from educational standards to things like diversity.... I am sure when they all started school they wanted to be doctors and lawyers and when they found out they were not the in the top of their classes they moved into a field where they add tons of letters behind their names, eliminate parents, and use the federal government to protect them like an endangered species. If they are so sure that they are doing the best job possible to educate our children then they should have no problem letting parents choose who educates their children and where, because in the end I think we can all agree that the most important thing is the educating of our students, period!

Jane Huizenga of ND 1:30PM November 10, 2011