New York City Merit Pay Plan

Supporters of the concept of merit pay/pay for test scores have been talking about how teachers in New York City have agreed to some type of plan to enhance their salaries. Imagine a group of teachers in Oklahoma being told what teachers in New York City have done. The image is reminiscent of those cowboys sitting around the campfire eating a bad brand of picante sauce. When they ask the cook where it's from and he says "New York City", everyone of those cowboys respond, in disbelief, "New York City???"

That's exactly the response you'll get from Oklahoma teachers when we are compared to teachers in New York City. To begin with, pay us a starting salary of $42, 512 ( $10,912 raise) for the beginning teacher. After 22 years NYC teachers top out at $79,810. We top out at $42,325 after 25 years.

Teachers with Masters start at $46, 503 compared to our $32,800. They finish at $85,141. For Oklahoma it's $43,950. At the Doctorate level they start at $53,521 and end at $93,419. We start at $34,000 and end at $46,000.

The average teacher salary is $63,000 compared to our $42,124. Their starting salary is above our average salary.

New York City??? The comparison is worthy of an old fashioned Bronx cheer.