They Want a Pay Raise of How Much?
Today's New York Times reports that a study to be released today by Teachers College at Columbia University finds "American colleges and universities do such a poor job of training the nation's future teachers and school administrators that 9 of every 10 principals consider the graduates unprepared for what awaits them in the classroom," and "lacked academic rigor and were outdated." Depite the implications of this study, this week's Arlington Sun-Gazette reports the 8.1% pay raise recommended in the budget release two weeks ago the the Superintendent seems to be pleasing no one. ACTA's president Tim Wise is quoted by the paper saying, "If they were going to use all the money they've set aside to reward the most productive teachers, that might be a very beneficial use of taxpayer money . . . But across-the-board raises reward the deadbeat teachers just as much as the outstanding ones." Could it be the 8.1% pay raise for teachers is nothing more than a scheme to sop up all the excess funds generated by the revenue sharing agreement?