Highest paid teachers in the world?

[aussieteacher]

There is a new international school opening this year in Saudi Arabia, along with a new university - KAUST. The rumours are that teachers at this school will be the highest paid teachers in the world. I'd love to know if it's true! Does anybody know anything about this school? Has anybody been hired ready to start this year? Obviously, money is not the only consideration when it comes to choosing a school to work at, but I'd be interested to hear if anybody has any experiences with this school.

[JISAlum]

Here's a wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KAUST

Looks like a university

[aussieteacher]

Yes, there is a new university opening, but there are also three schools opening in support of it. A boys school and a girls school, presumably for the children of the Saudi academic and other staff, and an innternational school, offering the IB, for the children of the internation faculty members. It's the international school which is allegedly paying its teachers the big bucks.

[Mike]

I have heard salaries start around 120,000$!!

WOW! but its 80 miles from nowhere....no booze.....hot as hell.......

sign me up,

[old grey wolf]

I have heard the same as Mike - a nice $120,000 tax free. However, they prefer to recruit married couples. One partner gets the incredible deal, but the other is only given a local contract. In addition, the super salary decreases each year, until year 4 when it is comparable to other schools in the area.

An interesting compensation model. How can you attract fantastic teachers, and at the same time avoid an ever increasing salary bill as more and more long term teaching staff move up the salary scale.

[JISAlum]

[quote="old grey wolf"]I have heard the same as Mike - a nice $120,000 tax free. However, they prefer to recruit married couples. One partner gets the incredible deal, but the other is only given a local contract. In addition, the super salary decreases each year, until year 4 when it is comparable to other schools in the area.[/quote]

That's an interesting concept. I would love to hear what unions in the States would say to that. Would certainly put the breaks on those teachers staying in one district for 25-35 years.