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DC Public Schools & Performance-Based Compensation

By 3L at Seton Hall University School of Law and Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review.

Michelle Rhee, a Teach For America alum and current chancellor of DC public schools, is proposing a ground-breaking change to teacher compensation in the District's public schools. From the Washington Post:

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee is proposing a contract that would give mid-level teachers who are paid $62,000 yearly the opportunity to earn more than $100,000 -- but they would have to give up seniority and tenure rights, two union members familiar with the negotiations said yesterday.

Under the proposal, the school system would establish two pay tiers, red and green, said the union members, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are confidential. Teachers in the red tier would receive traditional raises and would maintain tenure. Those who voluntarily go into the green tier would receive thousands of dollars in bonuses and raises, funded with foundation grants, for relinquishing tenure.

The proposal is a response to District's chronic inability to provide a high quality education to its students. The proposal may be enough of a spark to attract new teachers and retain effective teachers that might otherwise leave public schools to teach in charter schools (which can offer more flexibility in compensation and pedagogy that attracts dynamic educators).

Performance compensation has the potential to transform schools that have traditionally failed to deliver high quality education to their students (though it should be noted that there are a number of risks of tying compensation to high stakes testing; one of the less frequently discussed pitfalls was explored by Steven Levitt in Freakonomics, a summary of his findings can be found here).

Full post as published by Urban Law Journal on July 03, 2008 (boomark / email).