Public Charter Schools Succeed with Longer Hours and Higher Teacher Pay
The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) runs several public charter schools in New York City. Two of these charters, high schools located in Brooklyn and the Bronx, are wildly successful. A third elementary school charter in East New York, however, is failing to adequately teach its students.
At the East New York charter school, only 10% of students passed the state reading exam and 13% passed the math exam, well below the 26% and 30% respectively across New York City.
As the New York Daily News reports, the successful UFT charter schools are succeeding because of longer classroom hours and higher teacher pay:
In both locations, all the teachers are members of the union. In the Bronx, though, they work longer hours than their counterparts at other city schools and are paid 20% more.
The results have been impressive: every member of the class of 2013 graduated in four years, and 20% of those students graduated with an Advanced Regents diploma.
