The "Teacher Salary Project" Urges You To Join Them
Recently, Bill Ferriter , a 6th-grade social studies and language arts teacher at Salem Middle School in Apex, N.C., announced about his involvement in a new educational initiative called “Teacher Salary Project“. This project is treating educational issues in United States, and actually is aimed at bringing attention to increasing teachers’ salaries. The project includes a feature-length documentary film, an interactive online resource, and observes the essence of the American educational system crisis from the point of view of American teachers.
As we learn from theteachersalaryproject.org , the project is based on a New York Times bestselling book, Teachers Have It Easy, by journalist and teacher Daniel Moulthrop, and writer Dave Eggers. “The Teacher Salary Project” is produced by Eggers and Calegari, and directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker Vanessa Roth.
In theteachersalaryproject.org the authors of the project explain:
Our educational system must change. Currently, 30 percent of American students drop out of school by age 18. Most significantly, students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds are at a greater risk for decreased cognitive development and ability, lower school attendance, and higher rates of grade failure and early drop-out.
They emphasize the importance of increasing teachers’ salaries by arguing that good teachers have the power to change a life course. They are responsible for the future of a country, for its progress or regress, for the quality of coming generation. However, nowadays, according to the same source, 50 percent of American teachers have to work outside of classrooms, as well, just to be able to live and to teach.
Bill Ferriter is an active teacher leader who has been working as a member of a high functioning Professional Learning Team for the past three years. He also has 6th Grade Social Studies and Language Arts at Salem middle school in Apex.
According to blogs.edweek.org Ferriter thinks that they’ve reached a “tipping point” on teacher salaries at which “changes to the ways that we reward teachers are truly possible.”
While I believe that there is a central need to raise salaries for all educators consider that the average starting salaries for educators currently stands at $31,753 while the average starting salary for college graduates in non-education majors stands at $42,229 ”I also believe that blanket increases for all educators regardless of performance cheapens our profession.
The authors of “Teacher Salary Project” plan to enlarge the process of gathering and sharing continually updated resources, information by and for teachers across the country. They hope that in this pre-election period the voice of American intellectuals will be heard. To reach real success they invite all concerned people to join this initiative.
Bill Ferriter hopes that with the power of a national organization built with the social tools of the web behind us, “The Teacher Salary Project” just might be the lever needed to push conversations about compensation in the right direction.
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