Arne Duncan was far from popular among many teachers during his seven years as US secretary of education, thanks to controversial policies regarding everything from testing to charter schools.
But his latest comments - made during an exclusive TES interview - can be expected to win praise from across the profession.
Mr Duncan, who stepped down from his role at the heart of the federal government back in January, thinks that good teachers should be paid more. And not just a little bit more, but a lot more.
He argues that good teachers should be paid as much as $150,000 a year (around £100,000). In the US, that could mean a rise of more than 175 per cent. And he believes that headteachers should earn $250,000 (about £175,000).
Mr Duncan told TES that teachers were paid too little because their work was “undervalued”. And he said that even £100,000 was arguably still not enough.
“We’re not even close to [paying the amount that] teachers deserve for the hard, complex, hugely important work they do; we’re not in the game,” he said. “For me, a great teacher in the United States should make $150,000, absolutely. A great principal, $250,000.
“[If] you think about talent in other sectors, in the business sector, the legal sector, the medical sector, I could make an argument that they’re still underpaid at that point.
“I think we undervalue the profession,” he continued.
Mr Duncan told the Global Education and Skills Forum, held in Dubai last month, that in Washington DC a “great young teacher” aged about 30 could earn about $100,000. “That’s a big deal,” he said. “That attracts and retains talent at a different level.”
But Mr Duncan said that high salaries for teachers would have to be part of a “grand bargain” that would also include more accountability and asking the best teachers to work in the most disadvantaged communities.
This is an edited version of an article in the 15 April edition of TES. Subscribers can view the full story here, or to subscribe, click here. To download the digital edition, Android users can click here and iOS users can click here. TES magazine is available at all good newsagents.
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