60 Minutes: NYC charter school's $125,000 experiment

This Sunday (3/13/11), 60 Minutes aired a segment on New York City charter school, The Equity Project. 

The Equity Project (TEP) was founded in September of 2009. TEP holds to three core principles: rigorous qualifications, redefined expectations and revolutionary compensation.

This publicly funded, but privately managed charter school offers a salary of $125,000 to qualified teachers: that's more than double the national average for teachers. TEP's strategy invests most of its operating budget into pay for teachers. TEP founder and principal, Zeke Vanderhoek believes the rigorous recruitment strategy to separate the mediocre teachers from the all-stars will yield excelling results for their students.

But is higher pay helping this charter make the grade?

"When the fifth graders took the New York State math and reading exams, the results were disappointing. On average, other schools in the district scored better than TEP."

Watch the whole 60 Minutes segment below:




To read transcript of this 60 Minutes segment, click here.