Great teachers, small classes, strong relationships

Connections:Spring 2008 -- “I would much rather put a phenomenal, great teacher in a field with 30 kids and nothing else than take the mediocre teacher and give them half the number of students and give them all the technology in the world.” 
                                                                                    – Zeke Vanderhoek

That was the “Quotation of the Day” in The New York Times for March 7th, when an article appeared about Vanderhoek’s plan to open a charter middle school (grades 5-8) in New York City with teacher salaries of $125,000, “roughly two and a half times the national average teacher salary.” A second article on his plan appeared in The New York Times for March 14th. Van­derhoek’s plan has clearly provoked considerable response and interest. Those of us in independent schools would respond, “What about great teachers with half the number of students?”

The question of the relationship between compensation and teacher performance is a complex and fascinating one. Many of us would accept as a premise that high compensation can be a motivation for talented young people considering a profession, and that the current crisis in public school teacher recruit­ment in part reflects the fact that teacher compensation is low compared to that of other professions. Vanderhoek’s experiment is in the first instance an exploration of whether such higher compensation will provide a competitive advantage in recruit­ing given an environment of comparatively low salaries. If his school succeeds, however, we should expect to read stories ex­trapolating from that competitive success to an argument about public policy more generally – does the United States invest enough of its resources in the fundamental economic engine of education? Would our democracy be stronger with a better educated citizenry? Would we attract an entirely different cadre of teacher candidates if we paid all teachers in the United States as Vanderhoek proposes?

One of the fantasies bright young teachers often share in fac­ulty rooms across the country is getting together to start their own schools. That entrepreneurial energy is crucial to progress in education, and deserves celebration. Independent schools have long been the only recourse for would-be school founders, but now the Charter School movement has provided another.

I’ve been affiliated for almost two decades with The Klingen­stein Center for Independent Education at Teachers College, Co­lumbia University, where Charter Schools are a focus of interest and study; I’ve also served on the Board of a Charter School in New York City. While there are many examples of exceptional successes in start-ups, there are many more which languish in mediocrity or outright failure. As businesses, schools are like restaurants, which have an exceptionally high failure rate despite the hopes of great chefs. After many years in administrative roles at schools with strong traditions, I can think of no greater pro­fessional challenge than starting a new one. Vanderhoek deserves our admiration and gratitude for his venture.

As I’ve suggested, though, Vanderhoek’s “Quotation of the Day” is at variance with the goal that has worked so well in leading independent schools – great teachers with classes of 15 or 16 kids. Independent school teachers could make substantial­ly more teaching in Westchester’s leading public schools, where the New York State Department of Education last year reported the median salary as $98,000. Why, then, do so many talented teachers choose independent education? The answer seems to be that money isn’t everything. An English teacher at Hackley might have four sections totaling around 64 students, while his or her public school counterpart might have five sections total­ing 125 students. With twice as many students to work with, it’s more challenging to know each student’s strengths and weaknesses and give them the guidance and encouragement that contribute to success. Teachers thrive on the success of their students; when they see their students succeed, they feel successful themselves, and that’s the reward that brought most of us into education. Our teachers also value a school culture that honors achievement and service and the support of par­ents who care deeply about education. Building such a school culture – which allows the whole to be greater than the sum of the parts – is essential to a successful school, and the greatest challenge facing entrepreneurs like Vanderhoek.

Hackley School has gained strength in the last decade by attracting and retaining talented teachers, in part through more competitive compensation, the result of tuitions, gener­ous contributions of parents and alumni to Annual Fund, and gifts to the Centennial Campaign which have created endowments for Faculty Chairs and enabled us to purchase additional housing for our faculty. Vanderhoek’s higher sala­ries will enable him to compete more effectively for talented teachers already committed to public education; our increase in compensation has enabled us to compete more effectively for teachers committed to independent education.

When friends point out that independent school tuitions are now comparable to college tuitions at Ivy League universi­ties, once the cost of boarding is factored out, I remind them of the importance of the relationships our teachers forge with our students, not only in the classrooms, labs, and studios, but on the playing fields and courts. The average college student spends about 12 hours a week with their teachers, often in classes of 100 or more, while the average Hackley student spends 20 hours a week in classes – not counting all the time spent with teachers outside of class. Successful education is not just based on compensation, nor simply on more time for instruction. It’s based on the importance of the relationships between our teachers and students. Small class size is crucial to those relationships, and that’s why many great teachers will continue to choose to work at schools like Hackley.

— Walter C. Johnson