Union and school district negotiators have reached a tentative agreement on changes in Cincinnati's teacher pay-for-performance plan, this in response to complaints from teachers about the evaluation process. Under this agreement, teachers will receive more training on how the evaluation system works, they'll be evaluated on more standards at a time, and more teachers with many years of experience will be able to opt out of having pay tied to their performance evaluations. It's unclear how significant these changes are, though allowing veteran teachers to opt out of the system is surely not a good sign. While Cincinnati is mostly known for its struggling performance-pay plan, the district is also embarking on a major overhaul of its neighborhood high schools this year, converting them into smaller, more specialized schools with the help of a $1.5 million grant from the federal government and a sizable grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (a big believer in small schools). The high school reform effort is described in a long article by Jennifer Mrozowski in The Cincinnati Enquirer. In a separate article, she looks at the impact of a scathing report on the schools that was released by Cincinnati's business community a decade ago. Over the years, the district has embraced many of the suggestions offered by the CEOs who drafted the report, including slashing expenditures for district administration from 13 percent of the budget to 5 percent, hiring a business executive to supervise the school system's business operations, and creating a training facility for teachers and principals. What's the upshot of all this reform activity? While test scores in Cincinnati have risen some in recent years, Ohio still rates the district an "academic emergency" based on its test scores and graduation and attendance rates.
"Teachers, CPS Alter Pay-for-Performance Plan," by Jennifer Mrozowski, The Cincinnati Enquirer, September 1, 2001, http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/09/01/loc_teachers_cps_alter.html
"Breaking Down Schools to Build Them Up," by Jennifer Mrozowski, The Cincinnati Enquirer, August 26, 2001, http://enquirer.com/editions/2001/08/26/loc_breaking_down.html
"City School Reforms Began with Buenger," by Jennifer Mrozowski, The Cincinnati Enquirer, September 4, 2001, http://enquirer.com/editions/2001/09/04/loc_city_school_reforms.html