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THE TEACHER SALARY PROJECT is a feature-length documentary film, interactive online resource, and national outreach campaign that delves into the core of our educational crisis as seen through the eyes and experiences of our nation's teachers. This project is based on the New York Times bestselling book Teachers Have It Easy by journalist and teacher Daniel Moulthrop, co-founder of the 826 National writing programs Nínive Calegari, and writer Dave Eggers. THE TEACHER SALARY PROJECT is produced by Eggers and Calegari, and directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Vanessa Roth.

Our educational system must change. Currently, 30 percent of American students drop out of school by age eighteen. Fewer than 30 percent of all eighth-grade students are proficient in grade-level reading and math. Most significantly, students from urban, financially disadvantaged backgrounds are at a greater risk for decreased cognitive development and ability, lower school attendance, and higher rates of grade failure and early drop-out. And though it is well documented that the most important factor in students' school achievement and future success is the quality of their teachers, 46 percent of public school teachers leave the profession within the first five years of being in the classroom.

A good teacher has the power to change the course of a life. A teacher can move a child from poverty to promise by providing him or her with the skills and confidence necessary to be carried into adulthood-yet because teachers in the United States have historically had an average annual salary lower than their peers with similar educational backgrounds, 50 percent of our nation's best teachers must have second jobs outside of the classroom-like tutoring, mowing lawns, selling stereos, or bartending - to be able to afford to teach.

Our educators are responsible for imparting knowledge, mentoring, guiding, and fostering our nation's future, yet as a culture we discredit the profession. It is through this historical, societal, and systematic devaluing of our nation's most important profession that our children are faced with broken schools and low prospects. It is time that we as a nation address this educational crisis and make teaching the prestigious, competitive, and sustainable profession it deserves to be. Only then can we improve the success rates of our country's children and keep our democracy thriving.

In this spirit, THE TEACHER SALARY PROJECT will become the story by and about those closest to the issues in our educational system-the 3.2 million teachers who spend every day in the classroom in every corner of the country. Through an interactive and evolving website informed by personal testimonies by and about America's best teachers-which will become the only digital archive of teachers' stories about teaching-and a feature-length documentary that brings together the richest of those online submissions, archival material, educational experts, student interviews, and a year of documenting the day-to-day lives and sacrifices of public school teachers, THE TEACHER SALARY PROJECT will bring an awareness to the real and imminent crisis in our educational system-how little we value our strongest, most committed, and most effective teachers, and the ripple effect this has on how our children learn and their potential for future success.

In keeping with the storytelling styles of both Dave Eggers (writer) and Vanessa Roth (director), THE TEACHER SALARY PROJECT will be a character-driven film, telling moving and compelling stories that explore this urgent issue through humor, irony, and the energy of the teachers who fill the screen. Important facts and statistics that will give historical and social context will be interspersed with illustrations and animation by well-known artists and will incorporate quirky, campy-and outdated-educational filmstrips of teachers in America. Additionally, music icons who are passionate about public education reform will record an original soundtrack for the film.

We began film production in the summer of 2008 and actively continue to gather and share resources, facts, and information by and for teachers across the country. We are in the process of assembling a national network of community outreach partners committed to the project’s goals. We invite teachers to submit videos of themselves teaching, talking about teaching, and providing first-hand accounts of their struggles, frustrations, sacrifices, and successes as educators—in their own words and with their own cameras. We also encourage students, parents, and community members to share their stories about the roles teachers have played in all of our lives. Express your feelings creatively through letters, photography, poetry, song and dance—you name it!

As we accept story submissions from the community at large about the impact of teachers on their lives, THE TEACHER SALARY PROJECT will become the only digital archive of teaching in America. Selected submissions will become a vital part of our film, giving it a “cast of thousands.” We are filming the day-to-day lives of dynamic teachers from across the country who represent the challenges and sacrifices our educators must make to remain in the classroom. These individuals, through their everyday experiences and their choices over the course of the school year—to either stay in or leave their teaching positions—show us how important it is that we change the position that teachers hold in our society. The diverse testimonials and experiences contributed via the website/online channel will be woven together with historic archival material, facts, commentary from educational experts, and the in-depth and moving stories of professionally filmed educators. THE TEACHER SALARY PROJECT will engage, challenge, and inspire audiences to be part of an urgently needed progressive social movement, resulting in a real and lasting impact on the lives of our nation’s children.
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Most all of our team is working as dedicated volunteers who are passionate about teaching and education reform.

Vanessa Roth – Producer/Director
An Academy Award and Dupont-Columbia Award–winning filmmaker, Ms. Roth has been making pivotal social-issue documentaries for more than a decade. Some of her award-winning films include Taken In: The Lives of America’s Foster Children, Close to Home, Aging Out, Schools of the 21st Century, The Third Monday in October, 9/11’s Toxic Dust, Freeheld, and No Tomorrow. She holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work and a minor in Family Law from Columbia University. Before making films, Ms. Roth worked as a child advocate in New York’s Family Court, the New York school system, and the Los Angeles Rape Treatment Center.

Dave Eggers – Producer/Writer
Mr. Eggers is the author of six books: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, You Shall Know Our Velocity!, How We Are Hungry, Teachers Have It Easy, What Is the What, and Zeitoun. He is the founder and editor of McSweeney’s, a quarterly magazine and book-publishing company, and is co-founder of 826 Valencia. As a journalist, his work has appeared in the New Yorker, Esquire, and The Believer. In 2004 he co-taught a class at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, out of which grew the Voice of Witness series of books, designed to illuminate contemporary human crises through oral history.

Nínive Calegari – Producer
Ms. Calegari, the cofounder and former Executive Director of 826 Valencia, now serves as the CEO of 826 National. 826 Valencia is a literacy nonprofit that galvanized the community to help students ages eight to eighteen with their writing skills. Ms. Calegari is a veteran public school teacher who has had ten years of classroom experience. She holds a Master’s in Education in Teaching and Curriculum from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. Presently, she is an advisory board member of the George Lucas Educational Foundation and Leadership High School, and a San Francisco Arts Commissioner. She is also the recipient of Edutopia’s 2007 Daring Dozen award for being one of twelve people “reshaping the future of education.”

Tegan Molloy – Outreach Director
Ms. Molloy grew up captivated by reading and listening to people’s stories, and she believes this sparked her compassion toward others. Eventually she began working in a variety of leadership roles within student government to help improve her learning environments. She earned a B.A. at the School of Film and Photography and a minor in International Business at Montana State University in Bozeman. She was also lucky to travel to places like Israel/Palestine and Vilnius, Lithuania for educational endeavors. She recently transplanted to New York City and worked at Public Policy Productions on No Tomorrow with Vanessa Roth.

Nick Nehéz – Trailer Editor and Consultant
Mr. Nehéz was born to a proud Philadelphia public school teacher in 1972. He has a B.A. in Sociology from Bard College, and an MFA in Film and Video. His editing credits include work for ESPN, VH1 and the films Zoo, Everything Is Illuminated, G.I. Jesús, Severed Ways, and Alice Neel: A Portrait of the Artist.

Kristin Black – Web Designer
Ms. Black is an award-winning graphic designer who has specialized in the advertising and marketing fields for over ten years. She has functioned as an art director, designer, production coordinator, and production artist for a broad range of projects, including marketing and promotional materials, branding and corporate identity, advertising, direct mail, and web design. Projects have included work for JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, Sun Microsystems, Adidas, Toyota, and the Oscar-winning documentary film Freeheld.

Susan Farrington – Artist
As a child Ms. Farrington was always encouraged to take arts and craft classes, and she knew she wanted to be an artist when she grew up. After attending Massachusetts College of Art, she wanted to travel the world, so she got a job working for a travel company. When she returned to the States, she purchased a small rubber stamp company with a good friend while continuing to work on her own art. She eventually showed some of her work to the Boston Globe and started to get to work right away. Over the next few years Ms. Farrington took illustration courses with the Graphic Artists Guild of Boston and with the award-winning illustrator Lilla Rogers.

Emily Davis – Research and Outreach Coordinator
Ms. Davis is a graduate of Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Western Society & Culture and Political Science. After an extended stay in San Francisco, where she worked as an intern for 826 Valencia, Emily is back on the East Coast working to better the field of education. She has worked with the charter school network Achievement First in New Haven, Connecticut, and is working with the non-profit WriteBoston as an AmeriCorps VISTA.

Devin Triplett - Outreach and Development Associate
After graduating from California State University, Chico with degrees in Music and Religious Studies, Mr. Triplett has spent time giving guitar lessons, land surveying, bartending, as well as teaching English in Querétaro, México. Surrounded by many friends and family members who are teachers, he is passionate about being involved within education reform and joined the The Teacher Salary Project after interning with 826 Valencia and National. He currently lives in San Francisco.

Jean-Claude Calegari – Executive Board
Mr. Calegari works in business development at Amyris Biotechnologies, a renewable-fuels company. Previously, he was the Director of Business Development for the SchoolHouse division of LeapFrog Toys, where he oversaw the integration of curricula into technology products for use in classrooms. Mr. Calegari holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and a B.A. from Harvard University. He is also a CPA.

Meleana Leaverton – Executive Board/Business Affairs
Ms. Leaverton is an attorney in the San Francisco office of the law firm Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal LLP, where she has practiced corporate law for seven years. She has represented a number of local non-profit corporations, including 826 Valencia, the Oakland charter school Oasis High School, the Chez Panisse Foundation, Wildlife Rescue, Inc. (which merged into the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA), and the Latino Community Foundation. She is the recipient of Sonnenschein’s 2007 Rothschild Pro Bono Award. She has a Master’s Degree in Philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh, and earned her law degree from Boalt Hall.

Dorothy Moulthrop  – Executive Board
Ms. Moulthrop has over ten years of experience as a classroom teacher and curricular leader. She began her career in public education in the English Language Arts department at San Lorenzo High School, focusing on English-language learners and secondary-level literacy development. She did her teacher training at the UC Berkeley, and is currently working on a Master’s Degree in Education at Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Comparative Literature and Italian from Northwestern University. She currently teaches in the English department at Shaker Heights High School, near Cleveland, Ohio.

Jonathan Dearman – Advisory Board
Mr. Dearman is the Executive Vice President responsible for sales and marketing of HSM, Inc. Prior to becoming the Lead Real Estate Consultant at HSM, Mr. Dearman worked as a high school teacher and department coach for Leadership High School in San Francisco. While there, he developed the leadership curriculum for the four-year program in the school, managed and supervised other teachers in the department, and worked with the administration on hiring and coordinating with outside agencies. He earned his Master’s Degree and teaching credentials from the University of San Francisco.

Bill Ferriter – Advisory Board
Mr. Ferriter teaches sixth grade science and social studies in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was named a North Carolina Regional Teacher of the Year in 2005–06. Mr. Ferriter writes a regular column for Teachers Teaching Teachers, which is published by the National Staff Development Council. He has also been published by leading educational journals ranging from Educational Leadership to the Journal for Staff Development, and keeps a blog about the teaching life, “The Tempered Radical,” at the Teacher Leaders Network web site. He is a Senior Fellow in the Teacher Leaders Network and has served as a Teacher in Residence at the Center for Teaching Quality in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, working to raise the voice of practitioners into conversations about teacher working conditions and alternative compensation models for educators.

Yosh Han – Advisory Board
Ms. Han is the creator and perfumer of YOSH Olfactory Sense, a boutique fragrance company specializing in niche perfumes and aromatic art. Commissions include projects for SF Opera, SFJAZZ, the Bureau of Urban Secrets, and the 826LA Time Travel Mart. Her work has been featured in Vanity Fair, Town & Country, Vogue, and CBS MarketWatch. Prior to starting her own business, she was the original purveyor of Pirate Supplies and the Events Producer at 826 Valencia. Production events included the wildly successful First Annual Thumbwrestling Tournament, First Annual Icelandic Film Festival, Beard Trimmings, and Beef Jerky Tastings.

Daniel Moulthrop – Advisory Board
Mr. Moulthrop is an author and public broadcasting host based in Cleveland, Ohio. He began hosting WCPN’s The Sound of Ideas® in 2006, after working as a reporter, host, and producer for Cleveland’s public radio station. He began his work as a journalist at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Before turning to the world of news, he taught English at San Lorenzo High School and a variety of subjects at the San Francisco County Jail. Mr. Moulthrop has received many accolades for his work, including “Best in Show for Public Affairs Programs,” “Best Local News Refresher,” and one of Cleveland’s “Most Interesting People.”

Ellen Gordon Reeves – Advisory Board
For the past fifteen years, Ms. Reeves has served as Education Editor for the not-for-profit New Press. She has taught in public and private schools in France and America at the elementary through graduate levels, teaches in the Columbia University Publishing Course, and does college counseling at the American School of Paris and the Lycée Internationale. She holds an EdM from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and an MA in Writing and Teaching Writing from Northeastern University. She wrote Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?, and is finishing a cookbook with chef Yves Camdeborde in Paris, and a play about WWII survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein.

Tiffany Shlain – Advisory Board
Honored by Newsweek as one of the “Women Shaping the 21st Century,” Ms. Shlain is a filmmaker, founder of the Webby Awards, and co-founder of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. A sought-after speaker known for her visual presentations, Ms. Shlain lectures worldwide on filmmaking and the Internet’s influence on society. She founded the Webby Awards in 1996 and was creative director and CEO for nearly a decade, transforming it into a global organization honoring the best of the Internet, which occurs annually in NYC.

Sally Willcox – Advisory Board
Ms. Willcox is an agent in the Motion Picture Literary Department at Creative Artists Agency. She represents many of the world’s leading authors and writers, including Michael Chabon, Michael Cunningham, Jeff Eugenides, Dave Eggers, Steven Knight, Terry McMillan, William Nicholson, Zadie Smith, and Amy Tan. She graduated from Yale University with a degree in Political Science. Ms. Willcox is active in many community and philanthropic enterprises. She serves as President of the Board of 826LA, and also sits on the board of Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse Foundation.

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The New York Times–bestselling book Teachers Have It Easy is considered a landmark work examining how bad policy makes teaching unsustainable. Interweaving teachers’ voices from across the country with hard-hitting facts and figures, the book presents a clear-eyed view of the harsh realities of public school teaching. With a look at the problems of recruitment and retention, the realities of the work week, and shocking examples of how society views America’s teachers, Teachers Have It Easy explores some of the best ways to improve public education. Since its initial publication by the New Press, and multiple hardcover reprints in 2005, Teachers Have It Easy has attracted the attention of millions of educators and policy-makers nationwide, appearing on the New York Times extended bestseller list, C-SPAN, and NPR’s Marketplace. The response to the book was so strong that Pulitzer Prize finalist Dave Eggers and his co-author Nínive Calegari, a co-founder of the nationally recognized 826 writing programs, wanted to share these stories in a visual way—and to bring the kinds of amazing people and facts from the book to a wider audience in order to effect real and lasting change for teachers. BUY IT HERE
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