The waiting game continues. Will D.C. Schools and the Washington Teachers' Union ever come to an agreement on a teacher contract, one which contains monumental salary raises in exchange for losing seniority and tenure rights? Latest word is that the two groups are headed to arbitration. In the meantime, the steely D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee has let it be known that she has an ace up her sleeve and will have her way with or without the union's acquiescence. She calls it "Plan B," the use of mechanisms other than the contract to identify and fire ineffective teachers.
Plan B consists primarily of two separate but complementary strategies, neither of which must be negotiated through collective bargaining. Rhee first intends to strengthen the teacher evaluation system, requiring student outcomes to take on a much bigger role in a teacher's rating. The second comes from a change independent of Rhee, made by the Office of the State Superintendent (OSSE)--D.C.'s state agency. OSSE has instituted an unprecedented set of new rules for any state that will require teachers to demonstrate their effectiveness in order to renew their licenses.
Media reports (not to mention blog and message board postings) have suggested that the licensure changes made by OSSE were orchestrated by Rhee. Not so. Deborah Gist, the state superintendent, had been publicly moving ahead with plans to revamp licensure requirements for both teachers and administrators long before Rhee's contract talks heated up. Gist hosted a teacher quality work group that brought together about two dozen organizations (including NCTQ) to supply suggestions. In addition, the proposed regulations shouldn't really be any surprise to anyone paying close attention: they've been at multiple state board of education meetings, including two special hearings held for the sole purpose of public comment.
Perhaps Rhee's referring to this as "Plan B" is stoking the fire of the school system's involvement, but the union is certainly fanning the flames. Despite having participated in Gist's work group that came up with the new regs, the union sent an email to its members condemning the new licensure rules and suggesting they protest to elected officials ? but only after Rhee began talking openly to the press about how she intended to take the new regs seriously.
The conclusion to draw is that the District of Columbia has at least two leaders focused on and determined to provide D.C.'s students with effective teachers, Rhee and Gist, a model that may well serve as a national model for what states can do to support district reform efforts.