$20,000 Pay Raises for Math and Science Teachers with Obama's Master Teachers Program

During a rally in San Antonio, President Obama revealed a new proposal to his supporters for elite master teachers, a billon dollar effort to improve education for students in the science, technology, math, and engineering fields. The new proposal was strategically unveiled months before the November elections.
The program will include a pay raise of $20,000 dollars for each master teacher, but they must remain master teachers for several years. Not only are the master teachers educating students, they will be teaching other faculty members as well. The beginning of the program will start up with 2500 qualified teachers divided across the 50 states. If the program is successful there will be an additional 7,500 teachers over a four year course. The Obama administration will partner with groups, including the Carnegie Corporation of New York, to produce 100,000 math and science teachers over the next 10 years.
However, the federal government has 80 established teacher quality programs implemented already. Why another one billion dollar program? A report found that the U.S. must grow the number of students in science, math, and related fields by 34% to keep up with economic demand.
At the rally, President Obama said, “I’m running to make sure that America has the best education system on earth, from pre-K all the way to post-graduate. And that means hiring new teachers, especially in math and science.” With the help of the program, President Obama wants the future of America to succeed and he sees the program benefiting students, teachers, and the economy.
DIR took to Twitter to see what others had to say about the master teachers program. @ParrishJosh tweeted, “America needs an investment in our education system #MasterTeachers is that investment @BarackObama.”
Brandi Koskie, managing editor for EDUinReview.com, agreed with @ParrishJosh and said, “Everyone wins in this situation. Our very best teachers finally receive a proper compensation, our students learn from the very best and become more interested in math and science fields, and other teachers will push themselves to higher standards to be eligible in the next round.”
She also said, “I don’t think this is a partisan issue. Republican, Democrat, Independent… everyone should want the best teachers and the best resources for every one of our students. Write the checks that these hard-working people deserve.”
If President Obama is re-elected, the proposal will be included in Obama’s budget request for the next fiscal year, although, his budget request earlier this year was voted down by the House and Senate. Only time will tell if master teachers will be a passed by congress and if it is successful for America.