A new NYC charter school is gambling that teacher quality is the single most important determining factor in a school's success.

This experimental school will include:

higher base pay for teachers, where teachers make more than the principal;

reduced administration - no assistant principals, two social workers max for (ultimately) 480 students

no choice for classes

larger class size



At Charter School, Higher Teacher Pay

If they board them too, it might work.

just an FYI, some food for thought.

High-school students here rarely get more than a half-hour of homework a night. They have no school uniforms, no honor societies, no valedictorians, no tardy bells and no classes for the gifted. There is little standardized testing, few parents agonize over college and kids don't start school until age 7.

Yet by one international measure, Finnish teenagers are among the smartest in the world. They earned some of the top scores by 15-year-old students who were tested in 57 countries. American teens finished among the world's C students even as U.S. educators piled on more homework, standards and rules. Finnish youth, like their U.S. counterparts, also waste hours online. They dye their hair, love sarcasm and listen to rap and heavy metal. But by ninth grade they're way ahead in math, science and reading -- on track to keeping Finns among the world's most productive workers.

More at WSJ

Let's point this out right now:

Finland separates students for the last three years of high school based on grades; 53% go to high school and the rest enter vocational school. (All 15-year-old students took the PISA test.) Finland has a high-school dropout rate of about 4% -- or 10% at vocational schools -- compared with roughly 25% in the U.S., according to their respective education departments.

here is some interesting reader response to the article:

Maybe We Should Add Saunas to Our Schools!

Enjoy!