Charter School’s $125K Experiment

Charter School’s $125K Experiment

The video revolves around an innovative charter school in New York that pays its teachers $125k a year. The school’s principal views this as a favorable way of improving the performance of the institution. Among the issues that come around in the video is classroom management. The teachers involved with the institution are expected to engage with the students. This helps the students to augment an interest in whatever is being offered to them. As a result, there is the ability of the students to move from one point to the other in terms of performance. The structure of the environment in the school also comes out in the routine that the teachers and students have to encounter. The environment seems quite tough and intimidating from the teachers’ point of view. This is because they are under no contract and their services can be terminated at any time. This is likely to mount pressure on them, hence making them work extra hard with the objective of attaining the desired institutional goals. When it comes to students, they seem happier since the teachers care for their needs hence the push for improved performance.

When it comes to the tenure of teachers, this institution does not offer such. This comes out as a very good thing. However, people that argue for the presence of tenure in the teaching career would say that it safeguards teachers against unjust dismissal. This is usually a “raw” argument because what happens now for the teachers that are performing poorly and are not concerned since their jobs are secured regardless of how the students turn out? The performance of the learning institutions would improve significantly if teachers were held accountable for the outcomes of the students’ performance in respect to their way of teaching. The criteria of retaining ‘good’ teachers at the institution are based on how the classroom is managed, how well the students are engaged and the presence of evidence that the students are improving.

Implementing such a strategy nationwide would be tricky, and it would likely not work as intended. Among the issue that would make this program difficult to work is its primary way of functioning. The program functions in a manner that enables the institution to attract the best teachers out there. This is by way of offering the most competitive remuneration packages. The NYC Charter School video has shown that the institution receives numerous applications, but only a few of the applicants make the desired impression. This means that there is no enough quality out there to warrant such payments in every institution. Even if a mediocre teacher was paid $125K per year, this is not likely to transform them into becoming ‘good’ teachers. What would happen if this was implemented in a nationwide perspective is that a lot of teachers would lose their jobs and this would result in teachers’ deficiency in the country. There would also be a need to re-allocate resources to help fund the increasing wages at the expense of other projects in the institution.

Despite this approach not coming out as a favorable nationwide program, it is a good program on its own. The program recognizes the need of paying teachers improved salaries as a way of helping to motivate them. When salaries are better, the teaching profession is likely to attract quality teachers in the coming years. Creating an environment where the teachers and students are well engaged is also paramount for improved performance in schools. This is because teachers become genuinely interested in the students’ welfare since they care on how they perform. Teachers should also not be allowed to live in the status quo due to the protection of their tenure. Just like other professions, there should be a way of eliminating teachers that are not performing according to the set standards.

Do you need an Original High Quality Academic Custom Essay?