TEP Charter School – How will that affect us?
For those you of who may not have heard, there is a new charter school opening up in Upper Manhattan in the fall of 2009: The Equity Project (TEP) Charter School. I think the creation of this school will place a new lens of criticism on education in this country. In all honesty, for many reasons, I hope the project is successful. With any luck, I hope to work at this school eventually or one like it. If you’re interested, the New York Times has even run an article on them recently.
I would like to provide a listing of what makes this school so special. Essentially, I find it most impressive that they are working this hard toward hiring and keeping the best teachers available to their students. Keep in mind that these specifics come directly from their own website:
- a professional work-day that includes daily peer observations and co-teaching
- three preparation periods on most days (in addition to lunch)
- one subject, one grade level, four different groups of students
- professional development structure is based on an observation model
- each teacher observes his/her partner teacher 1 period per day and is observed by his/her partner teacher 1 period per day
- whole-school service time for teachers daily, 7 hours per week
- a work-year that includes an annual 6-week Summer Development Institute
- a mandatory sabbatical once every five or six years
- a $125,000 annual salary
- the opportunity to earn a significant annual bonus based on school-wide performance ($25,000 possible the first year increasing each year by $5,000 increments)
In all honesty, the news of this project intrigues me. I cannot help but wonder how this will affect the world of teaching, our students, and our professionalism. How will this change how teachers view themselves as well as how parents and other professionals view them? I must say that I am really impressed by the amount of on-going professional development that has been built-in to each teacher’s schedule. It also intrigues me that this organization has decided to bring Latin back into the school schedule. This will certainly assist in improving students’ understanding of language. Of course – the rate of pay is unbelievable. In my mind, good teachers are well worth this level of pay. After all, we are professionals and we are shaping the future of this country.
