I borrowed the above headline from my stepdaughter’s comment on two recent articles on teaching – “What Makes a Great Teacher” in the Jan/Feb issue of The Atlantic magazine and “Building a Better Teacher” in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. Both articles are essential reading during school budget deliberations, because they can help school boards determine priorities in spending. According to the articles, research has shown the following to be true:

• Being a good teacher requires much more than mastery of subject matter. It requires mastery of certain skills and techniques, as well.

• Every factor under a school’s control, including curriculum and class size, produces a tiny impact on learning, except for the teacher to which a student has been assigned.

• The most effective teachers can impart a year and a half’s worth of learning in one year; the students of the least effective teachers advance only a half year in one year.

• Teacher quality varies more within schools than among schools.

• A master’s degree in education has no effect on classroom effectiveness.

• It is possible to identify potentially great teachers in a pool of applicants.

• Great teachers may be born, but they can also be made, i.e., teacher mentors and staff development are crucial.

Viewing the 2009-10 Cape Elizabeth school budget (the proposed 2010-11 budget is unavailable as I write this) through the lens of these two articles suggests which school board priorities and actions have a positive impact on the quality of the school system and which do not. Teachers and students are essential to the schools’ core mission and should be the primary focus of the school board.

Cape strives to hire the best available teachers, and the research shows this is properly the school board’s number one priority. Cape schools also have a mentoring program in which more experienced teachers mentor newer teachers. If the best teachers are selected as mentors, research shows this is money well spent.

This year, the Cape school board declined to meet budget gaps caused by curtailment of state funding by declaring a furlough day on a Teacher Day, when school would otherwise not be in session. If this Teacher Day will be used to provide teacher training that will improve the quality of teaching in Cape schools, this was a good decision on the school board’s part. If it will not be so used, perhaps it was a poor decision. As one who urged the school board to go the furlough day route, I would be glad to admit my error publicly if I was wrong on this issue.

On the other hand, last September the Cape superintendent froze spending for supplies, textbooks, and staff development for the second year in a row. From the perspective of quality teaching, this may not have been the best place to cut expenses. Research shows staff development is important for quality teaching. And if I were a teacher deciding where to teach, easy access to classroom supplies and up-to-date textbooks would be at least as important to me as maximizing my salary.

The research also suggests school boards should scrutinize closely all non-teaching staff, i.e., administrative and other non-teaching positions. Curriculum coordinators, technology integrators, assistant principals and the like pale in importance compared to teachers.

A bolder interpretation of the research is that great teachers are, in fact, worth their weight in gold. We should pay the best teachers more than those who are not as good. We should compensate teachers based on their effectiveness as teachers, not on the basis of post-graduate degrees. And perhaps the top salaries in the school system should be paid to teachers, not administrators.

Mary Esposito grew up in South Portland and has lived in Cape Elizabeth for over 25 years. A doting grandmother, graduate of Harvard Law School, and former state legislator, Mary is the author of many boring articles on legal issues. Mary’s writing focus is now her blog about Cape Elizabeth town government, Cape Elizabeth Voice, at www.CapeVoice.WordPress.com. She can be reached at CapeVoice.WordPress@gmail.com.