If you’re not already familiar with the way teachers in D.C. get paid, it basically works like this – the longer you teach, the more you make. DCPS teachers are compensated on a seniority-based scale (pdf), something that was designed to encourage retention, but unfortunately also means that teachers are paid for their loyalty, not their performance.

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has often said that she wants the District to have “the most highly compensated and competent" teachers in the country, and now, in a move being simultaneously praised as “revolutionary” among reformers and reviled as “a bribe” by critics, she has proposed a new contract that would give teachers an opportunity to earn over $100,000 a year in exchange for giving up their rights to seniority and tenure.

Teachers who choose to join the “green” tier under the new contract would be eligible for thousands of dollars in bonuses and raises (funded by groups like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) for meeting student achievement goals, but would also be subject to yearly performance reviews –that is, more money for more accountability. If teachers want to hang on to their traditional pay scale and tenure, they simply opt out of the new plan and stay in the “red” tier.

The Post editorial board absolutely loves the idea, writing this morning, “Instead of facing the loss of promising teachers to better-paying jobs in the suburbs, the city would be able to fashion an exciting new workforce in which positive results -- and the teachers who bring them about -- are rewarded,” and even lamenting that the plan is voluntary. “Indeed, we wonder whether the proposal is overly generous, in that ineffective teachers, no matter their seniority, should not be tolerated, much less rewarded with raises.”

We’re all for the best teachers making six figures, yet this plan raises questions too, such as how student achievement should be measured (progress over a year? a single high-stakes test?) and how to ensure the fairness of teacher evaluations. For example, Ms. Angela, blogging over at Special Education Teacher in Washington, DC, wonders how her SPED students will be treated under the plan.

Simply put, this is a really big deal, but will hinge on the reactions of the local and national teachers' unions, some of whom have shown a knee-jerk response against merit-based pay in the past. However, if implemented successfully, Rhee’s new contract will likely spark similar pay reforms in school districts across the nation.

750 Unqualified Educators Fired: Speaking of accountability, also last week, Rhee fired 250 teachers and 500 teacher’s aides who had failed to meet the June 30 certification deadline, a deadline that had already been extended twice since 2005. With the firings, DCPS, which has traditionally operated with a large percentage of uncertified educators, is finally in compliance with the “highly-qualified” requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, under which teachers must have at least a bachelor's degree in the subject they teach and pass a test demonstrating their knowledge in that area, while aides need a high school diploma and must pass an exam.

According to coverage in the Post and Examiner, the firings will not disrupt the coming school year, as the educators in question were not expected to meet the deadline, and were consequently not assigned to any classrooms.

Forty-five Principals Hired: After conducting a nation-wide principal search, DCPS has hired 45 new principals who will take over many of the District’s failing schools. In a profile, the Post calls them Rhee’s “Army of Believers,” citing the idealism and relentless expectations that characterize the recent hires, and reporting that about half of them will fill positions vacated by Rhee’s firing of principals earlier this summer. The new school leaders said Rhee’s office had “made it plain that that they will exit through the same door if they don't deliver.”

Schools Notes: Sec. of Education Margaret Spellings continues to grandstand for D.C. vouchers… City Desk points out some of the casualties of recent budget cuts at Ballou High School… D.C. council chairman Vincent Gray seeks testimony on the confusion over school construction contracts.