Depends on the school

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Home : 2006 : June : 10

Depends on the school
By lynn

Each charter school is run differently. While they have to adhere to some state guidelines; state testing, EC services, accomodations (504's), etc. many decision are made locally by the school board members.

The
charter school I teach at pays the same as the state pay scale including the incentives for National Board Certification and Master's Pay increases. Instead of paying in to the state's retirement plan, we have a matching 401K plan. We have the state health plan, but no dental or vision. We also have optional supplement plans for cancer, etc. that can be purchased with before tax dollars.

I

have heard of some charter schools paying less that the state pay or you negotiate your pay.

I would imagine most good charter schools would pay the state pay. My principal says he had to pay what the state pays if he want to get the best teachers. He feels that if he doesn't he won't be able to attract teachers to come work for him. You can check the state pay scale on the NC Dept. of Public Education website.

I am very happy at the charter school I am at. There are some luxuries I've had to give up (smaller yearly supplement/bonus, smaller room, not as many "bells and whistles"), but it is well worth it. We are a growing school and each year we gain more things and eventually I feel that we will have most of the "bells and whistles" of the surrounding public schools. Our curriculum is a local decision, we must still meet and teach state standards since we get x dollars from the state per a child and are considered a public institution, but we also are incorporating Core Knowledge curriculum, an exciting and challenging nationally used curriculum (coreknowledge.org). Teachers do have a say in selection of teaching programs and how things are run. Because we are a choice school for parents, we have a very high parent involvement and support. Be sure to check out each charter school individually because they do differ and like any school the principal can make or break the school. Our's (principal) is wonderful, luckly!!!