The $100,000 Teacher: A Solution to America's Declining Public School System [Hardcover]

Brian Crosby (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 19, 2002

For parents, educators, and policymakers--an explosive new look at public education in America that focuses on treating good teachers like the experienced professionals they are and eliminating the incompetents. Good teachers deserve a $100,000 annual salary and more if public education is to serve students well in the twenty-first century. The $100,000 Teacher: The Solution to America s Declining Public School System explains just how this can be accomplished. Imagine if every public school student spent each day with teachers who could change their way of thinking, motivate them to excel, and make them truly look forward to class. Ten-year teaching veteran, Brian Crosby, provides a detailed plan for attracting and retaining the most qualified teachers by increasing salary potential, and eliminating incompetent teachers by raising standards and accountability. He explains how we can afford to increase teacher salaries (not by raising property taxes), why the unions are wrong in insisting teacher quality can t be objectively evaluated, and what it will take to make this revolution happen. Increasing teacher salaries isn't a new idea, but until now, no one has clearly explained how it can be done and why it must be done. Crosby offers new ideas like creating a more competitive, private sector-like pay schedule with a tiered career ladder, paying teachers according to performance, pooling money earmarked for special programs to create a legitimate pay scale, providing for peer evaluations, and upgrading the daily work conditions of teachers. The $100,000 Teacher is the book that will inspire good teachers, inflame bad ones, and educate parents and policymakers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Intellectually competent, high performing, well-paid teachers are the answer to today's educational woes, says veteran high school English teacher Crosby. Yet it is "not that much of an exaggeration to claim that public schools today are America's sweatshops," he argues, painting a bleak picture of the daily lives of many educators. If parents and policy makers really want top-notch teaching, Crosby insists, they need to eliminate crash courses in education designed to get certified teachers into classrooms; fix dilapidated buildings; provide teachers with the tools they need to do their work (phones, copy machines, adequate textbooks and computers); and most important, pay them a wage equivalent to what other professionals with graduate degrees, like those in law, business and medicine, earn. Crosby is certainly aware of the many proposals that have been advanced to improve education school vouchers, charter schools and a host of programs designed to teach everything from basic reading to particle physics. Parents and teachers can forget about most of these, he says, and get the same results by improving teachers' working conditions. Crosby doesn't really address the complexities of implementing this proposition, however, and ignores thorny issues such as merit pay, which many teachers oppose. This book began as a controversial syndicated op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times in 1998, and it still reads like a one-sided polemic. There are some important ideas here, nonetheless, and a strong argument for awarding teachers good ones the status they deserve.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

High school English teacher Crosby, who has been teaching in Glendale, CA, for 13 years, begins his argument for higher teacher salaries with a gloomy account of his typical workday. He reveals the minutiae and bureaucracy that detract from educating students, and he is resentful that teaching is now more akin to an industry than a respected profession. His solution is to reform the system with higher teacher salaries, rigorous training, and regular evaluations. The money would attract more qualified teachers, and accountability measures would get rid of the incompetents, who are an occupational blight. Crosby proposes a career ladder that rewards excellence with six-figure incomes after 15 years. Although unions are usually opposed to merit pay schemes, he cites several districts that have implemented them successfully. Empowering teachers would ultimately benefit students' learning, and, the author claims, increasing compensation could be accomplished without raising taxes through smarter budgeting, eliminating wasteful programs, and initiating corporate partnerships. His argument is provocative and deserves consideration despite some na‹vet‚ in the face of today's complex, overregulated systems. Recommended for academic and public libraries. Will Hepfer, SUNY at Buffalo Libs.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Capital Books; 1 edition (March 19, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 189212355X
• ISBN-13: 978-1892123558
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,398,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brian Crosby, a National Board Certified Teacher, is a 20-year veteran high school English teacher, author of Smart Kids Bad Schools: 38 Ways to Save America's Future and The $100,000 Teacher: A Teacher's Solution to America's Declining Public School System. He hosts the daily syndicated radio feature, "A Teachable Moment" and founded the American Education Association.

Ever since the publication of his first book, Mr. Crosby has made numerous national media appearances on both TV and radio, discussing not only his books but his views on a variety of issues concerning children and education.

Mr. Crosby writes a blog at brian-crosby.com and welcomes comments.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A provocative solution, June 19, 2003

By 

Dennis Littrell (SoCal) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The $100,000 Teacher: A Solution to America's Declining Public School System (Hardcover)

Brian Crosby understands what is happening in our public schools. Our public schools really are facing a crisis of unprecedented proportions, especially in Crosby's (and my) home state, California. He understands that a society that pays its prison guards more than its teachers has its values distorted. His solution is a noble one, one that will work, and he outlines in considerable detail the steps necessary for its implementation in this easy to read, well thought out presentation. However, I am sorry to say that I don't think the $100,000 teacher is going to happen any time soon.

Why? Mainly because there is a perception on a significant part of the public that teachers have it easy because they only work 180 days a year and therefore shouldn't be paid more. As a former teacher myself, one who retired young from the profession because of the inequities experienced, I can tell you that this perception is grossly mistaken for any number of reasons, but is true in at least one sense. To put it bluntly, it is true for the teacher who doesn't care, for the teacher who just wants to get a paycheck, for the teacher who has tenure and sees his or her responsibility as not extending beyond that of a glorified babysitter. And this goes for administrators who only want glorified babysitters. Crosby understands this and that is why his program is designed to weed out the teacher who doesn't care and reward the teacher who takes pride in teaching and wants to help his or her students succeed. That teacher IS a $100,000 teacher, if only we knew.

The salient point of this book then is a realization that the problem of adequate public financial support for education and for upgrading the teaching profession will not be solved until the present tenure system is abolished. As Crosby expresses it, "...no matter the lousy job one performs, once tenured (after a two or three years of teaching), one is in it for life." (p. 106)

The immediate effect of this system is to tie the hands of administrators. They cannot easily influence poor teachers, nor can they get rid of them. Conversely those teachers who really care and give their best to their students are not rewarded and so they leave the profession in frustration. As Crosby points out on the very first page of the book, "One-fifth of all new teachers quit within three years" and "Half of all new teachers quit within five years."

An unintended consequence of the present system is to make teachers and administrators adversaries. Administrators want teachers to do more, but teachers are not rewarded for doing more, so they (the ones that stay) resist. In addition, typically the school principal leads the negotiating committee for the school district against the teacher's union. So instead of working together for student achievement, teachers and administrators become adversaries. This dissipates their ability as educators.

In the long run the effect of the tenure system is synergistic in a negative sense in that it tends to attract and keep only mediocre teachers poorly supervised by mediocre administrators who are at odds with one another. Although this truth is well-known to everybody in the profession, suggestions for abolishing the system will not sit well with the various teacher's organizations since they are addicted to tenure and cannot kick the habit. An enlightened and energized public is necessary to help them. This in essence is what Crosby is calling for.

His solution must be taken seriously because there are standing in the wings other "solutions" to the problem including the privatization of education through something like a voucher system. Vouchers will lead to the end of public education in America, that is, to the dismantling of a system that was largely responsible for the fabulous economic growth of this country. Privatization will then lead to a further economic polarization of society. Those who have the wherewithal will be able to afford a good education for their children; those who do not, will not.

In any case, teachers and their professional organizations should be aware, that the time of the mediocre teacher and the adversarial system between mediocre teachers and mediocre administrators is coming to an end. I hope that the public sees the light in time and the reforms outlined by Crosby become a reality.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What happened to the respect for teachers?, May 5, 2009

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C. Pittman (Delaware, oh) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The $100,000 Teacher: A Solution to America's Declining Public School System (Hardcover)

This book is a must read for the public as it showcases the disgraceful working conditions that many teachers face. It is a definite eye-opener and will hopefully boost the opinion that the public has for teachers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read, December 19, 2008

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GradStudent (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The $100,000 Teacher: A Teacher's Solution to America's Declining Public School System (Capital Currents) (Paperback)

Every teacher, politician, and school administrator in the United States should be required to read this book. Unlike the usual "school reform" books, its purpose is not to point fingers and assign blame- its written so that people better understand the central problem. You won't agree with 100% of the author's conclusions, but you'll see value and truth in at least 95%. An excellent book. Period.