A charter focused on "master teachers" . . .

I checked out the Equity Project charter school that Stacy shared to the Superman post.  Would these words on the opening of their web page captures your interest?

The Equity Project (TEP) charter school believes that teacher quality is the most important factor in achieving educational equity for low inclome students.  Spurred by this belief, TEP reallocates its public funds by making an unprecedented investment in attracting and retaining great teachers.

How?  First, all TEP teachers earn a $125,000 salary, plus an annual bonus of up to $25,000.
I would think that any teacher would be interested in further investigating this opportunity. 

A closure look suggests that TEP sees teacher quality, especially master teachers, as the key to success.  In their words, they use a three-pronged strategy that they term the 3 R’s: Rigorous Qualifications, Redefined Expectations, & Revolutionary Compensation to achieve its mission.

Rigorous Qualifications  Categories under this criteria include the following with more detail to be found on the link.  It is clear from this and the other information that new and inexperienced teachers need not apply.  Their recruitment focuses on master teachers, a term defined by some of the criteria under the 3'R's.

• Expert subject-area knowledge
• Teaching expertise and experience
• Strong curriculum development ability
• Outstanding verbal ability

Redefined Expectations  TEP redefines the school day, the school year, and career development.

Work Day:  The work day extends from 7:45 am to 5:00 pm with two 50 minute planning periods. Teachers are paired, observe each other each day and use one of the planning periods to share and jointly plan.

Work Year:  The student school year follows the New York city school calendar.  Each summer all TEP teachers are required to attend a six week Summer Development Institute leaving them with a summer break of three weeks.


Career Development:  TEP calls it a career arc that includes a mandated sabbatical every four years. These are unpaid sabbaticals.

In addition, TEP teacher sabbaticals are not “sabbaticals” in the usual sense of the word, since they will typically occur every fifth or sixth year, instead of every seventh year. TEP believes that the intensity of the teaching profession mandates a shorter duration between sabbaticals. TEP teachers are expected to begin researching sabbatical opportunities at least one year in advance of their sabbatical year. Teachers may use their sabbatical year for employment (e.g. a position at a think tank), education (e.g. a one-year art-history masters program), or travel (e.g. a travel fellowship). Teachers are not paid by TEP during their sabbatical years; however, TEP attempts to assist teachers in securing funding for their sabbatical-year project.


Revolutionary Compensation:  This is obviously a key component of the program and besides the salary and bonus opportunity it includes a comprehensive benefits package.
TEP is operated with public money, but must find donations to lease or purchase a facility.  I couldn't find any achievement data, probably because it only opened a year ago. 

In her comment Stacy asks if you would have the gumption to apply.  Would you?  She also asks us to suspend our assumptions about what she labels "clock punchers" as there is much more to a teacher's dedication than the time spent at school.