If the salaries and the societal respect were commensurate with the time teachers put in, people would never look at what I do as an anomaly. There are similar challenges. The CEO of Coke is trying to run a top-quality organization. I'm trying to run a top-quality school. Teaching is a great job.
Teaching is a horrible job, but it is a great calling.
This will be the first year we do it by lottery. We're basically open to any kid, but kids have to agree to the contract. Thousands since we started. We had more than 400 names for 60 spots in fifth grade. When people call up for spots in the older grades, we tell them in general we don't accept kids for the older grades, but many still put their names down.