The New Face of Public Education?

Later this month, the District of Columbia plans to release a long-awaited contract proposal for teachers. Generally speaking, this would not raise eyebrows. However, the outcome of the contract proposal and negotiations could change the face of American education.

To say that D.C.'s superintendent, Michelle Rhee, is a reformer is a huge understatement. Since her appointment fourteen months ago, Rhee has focused on improving the District's failing schools by suggesting weeding out less-than-average teachers and proposing a merit-based system to indicate which teachers should continue employment, and which should be let go. Of course, this type of plan immediately provoked outrage from teachers' unions, including the American Federation of Teachers and its president, Randi Weingarten.

You might ask: why does the District of Columbia's educational problem affect American education as a whole? Here's why:

1) Obama enjoyed heavy labor union support (including from teachers' unions) but also expressed a desire for radical new approaches to school improvement in his campaign. He may be in a political quandary, trying to help both sides reach a compromise.

2) The District's contract situation with its teachers only mirrors what's happening in large, urban cities across the country (or, for that matter, any school district). Teachers rely on teachers' unions for job security, and a merit-based system might remove this sense of entitlement.

3) Weingarten has proposed a much more lenient plan to evaluate and, if necessary, fire teachers who are not up to proper standards. However, if she loses this battle, the implementation of individualized rewards for teacher performance (Rhee's plan) will undermine or possibly destroy her union.

4) Rhee is kind of a bad-ass. In an interview last fall, she stated that "People tell me that unions are an inevitable part of school reform. My thing is, what has that gotten us so far? All the collaboration and holding hands and singing "Kumbaya?" This woman will not roll over for the teachers' unions.

5) Weingarten wants to modify the tenure system for teachers but not abolish it. She also wants any merit-based plan to include a variety of factors beyond test scores (class attendance and other vague factors). Rhee simply wants a plan that abolishes teacher tenure altogether, and bases all merit-based performance evaluation on student scores.

As a Democrat, I'm aware of how important teachers' unions and their support have been to the party over the years. As a former public school student, I know that a lot of teachers simply refuse to care for their students, treating them as numbers instead of individuals, and knowing that their jobs will be secure regardless of their students' ability to read and write. Those types of teachers disgust me, and I'd like to see them pack up their boxes and leave the classroom for good.

With the economic crisis in full force, education is on the back-burner in the mainstream media. However, regardless of how you feel on the issue, take a long look at what happens with Michelle Rhee and D.C.'s public school system -- it could be the first salvo fired in the new struggle for the future of American education.