$125,000 a year teachers, oh my

I was floored when I read this article in the NY Times. I mean, every teacher in the school will be making $125,000 a year and the principal will be making $90,000 a year. Everything is upside down, dogs and cats are living together, the devil is strapping on ice skates as we speak.
So is this the big grand ol’ teaching lottery? Is every person within 200 miles of NY going to be dusting off their resume and applying for the positions? While they do state that the roles are going to be a little more rigorous and that there will be extra responsibilities, let’s face it, who among us are only doing the things specified in our job description? I think we’re all used to put in quite a bit of overtime as need be. So nothing new there.
I think this does bring up a larger question of, how do you measure the worth of a teacher? How will they determine who deserves the six figure salary?
The school’s teachers will be selected through a rigorous application process outlined on its Web site, www.tepcharter.org, and run by Mr. Vanderhoek. There will be telephone and in-person interviews, and applicants will have to submit multiple forms of evidence attesting to their students’ achievement and their own prowess; only those scoring at the 90th percentile in the verbal section of the GRE, GMAT or similar tests need apply. The process will culminate in three live teaching auditions.
So there you go. Quantitative results along with live ‘auditions’. Not a bad way to go. I’m sure we’ll get some arguments about whether that really ensures they’ll get the best of the best, but you do need to pick some criteria and run with it.
That being said, as a former teacher I know that I felt I had a legitimate right to complain about my salary. Especially when they asked us to come in on weekends, stay late for events, and other such things. However, would a higher salary really have changed all that?
To be honest, this charter school kinda scares me. If they spend this incredible amount of money, hire only the ‘best’ teachers and STILL have the same issues that every other school has… well, what does that say about our educational system and the way we assess it? And if they ARE successful, are they basically ‘proving’ that schools won’t be successful until salaries increase and teachers are paid what they feel they are worth? That could lead to some rather messy negotiations in the next few years.
And of course, the biggest question to me is, how much of it is the money versus that age old formula of caring teachers who have high expectations in a supportive environment with clear vision and leadership.
One last question that I’d love to hear your thoughts on:Would you rather work in an environment where you had little technology, little extra support, but complete autonomy and made six figures, or an environment where you had aids, ample technology, shorter hours, less responsibility outside traditional duties, but ‘only’ made $60,000. Which would you choose?