Okay. Comparing teaching to professional sports? Here’s one teacher who will accept merit pay on the condition that 1) I get paid as much as professional ballplayer, and 2) my contract is as iron-clad.
The minimum salary for a first-year player in the NBA, with or without a college education, is $457,588 (No one makes the minimum). He plays 82 1-hour games in the regular season. He earns this salary whether or not his team wins a single game. He has options, and waivers, and free-agency, meaning he can be traded to another team for at least the same salary, and if he is not picked up by another team he will still be paid for the season even if he no longer plays.
The starting salary for a first year public school teacher is around $34,000, with a bachelors degree (everyone starts at the first step of the salary schedule in their first year). She teachers 180 6-hour days (this varies from district to district, but few, if any, are less). She is a probationary employee who can be dismissed at will, without cause, until such time as she is granted tenure. Tenure simply means that she must be told in advance that she will be dismissed, and for what reason, and given an opportunity to remediate the cause for dismissal. If dismissed, tenured or not, she immediately ceases to receive a salary. If the school district decides they no longer need her services, she has no option to be traded to another district.
Thank you, Mr. Duncan. I’d love to be paid like a ballplayer.
Tags: Arne Duncan, merit pay, teacher pay
