Strong evaluation systems are foundational to improving teacher and principal quality; evaluations recognize excellence, support development, and address ineffectiveness. They must be meaningful, objective, and fair. D.C. stands out for the quality of its teacher and principal evaluation systems. Student achievement and growth comprises 50% of both teacher and principal evaluations; educators' evaluations are annual and are tied to professional development and a four-tier rating of effectiveness. For teachers, evaluations also include classroom observations. Principals are evaluated on other measures, including their management of teachers. The state's evaluation criteria are not subject to union contracts, which allows school system leaders to develop strong evaluation criteria.

Basing personnel decisions on performance is critical to building schools that retain effective teachers and make student achievement paramount. DCPS has established strong policies in this area through its collective bargaining agreement. The current DCPS contract prohibits forced placement. Under its evaluation system, ineffective teachers can be dismissed after only one year, giving schools the authority to build and maintain an effective instructional team. When forced to let teachers go during a budget-related reduction in force, the DCPS contract stipulates that performance is the primary factor in determining which teachers are retained. Tenure has been effectively eliminated; the current contract provides no protections for permanent teachers and ineffective teachers are unable to obtain or maintain permanent status. D.C. should protect its strong policies by ensuring that state law requires the school system to use teacher performance as the driving influence for all personnel decisions.

To encourage a high-quality, diverse workforce, professional pay should be based on performance rather than other non-classroom factors such as seniority or degrees held. D.C. law sets a minimum salary schedule for teachers based on years of experience and the attainment of advanced degrees. However, the statute does not prohibit the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) from linking compensation to performance. Through collective bargaining, DCPS established a robust supplemental performance-based pay system that is open to all teachers. To make these reforms permanent, D.C. should eliminate automatic pay increases for teachers with master's degrees alone and require all pay increases to be based on performance measures that prioritize student outcomes.

The District of Columbia is a leader in alternative certification offerings with a variety of providers. These alternative certification program requirements include field practice and selective admission criteria, including minimum GPA and/or work experience in the content area to be taught. No undergraduate degree or major is required. Instead, candidates can demonstrate basic and content-specific knowledge through assessment. D.C. has established a process for authorizing alternative certification programs but does not have a process for evaluating and decommissioning those programs that do not produce effective educators. To ensure that its alternative certification programs are producing high-quality teachers, D.C. should require programs are continually evaluated and decommissioned if student achievement gains are not evident.

The District of Columbia has taken an important step toward empowering parents by allowing parental access to teacher evaluation information upon request. There are a number of other steps that D.C. can take to provide parents with further information and options. First, D.C. should require that every PK-12 school receive an annual report card that includes an A-F letter grade based on student achievement. D.C. could also empower parents more effectively by requiring parents are notified when their children are placed with an ineffective teacher and requiring parent consent for that placement. Finally, to allow parents to have more input in their children's education, D.C. should pass a law that allows for a parent trigger when a majority of parents sign a petition to turn around a low-performing school. In that scenario, the options for the turned-around school would be one of the four federal Race to the Top intervention models.

The District of Columbia is taking important steps to ensure its students are not trapped in failing schools by creating policies that increase the number of high-quality school choice options for parents. Even though D.C. caps public charter growth, the charter sector is strong (comprising over 40% of students) and the sole authorizer has made strides to ensure public charter schools are held accountable for student results, despite a weak accountability law. Additionally, D.C. has a publicly funded scholarship program for low-income students in chronically failing public schools to attend a private school, with some established accountability provisions.

Children stuck in chronically failing schools should have an option to attend another school of their choice without being punished by the state through reduced funding. D.C. provides per-pupil operational funding through the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula, but documented inequities still exist. D.C. provides exemplary facilities support to charter schools by providing a per-pupil facilities allowance of $3,000 annually in addition to strong access to unused school facilities and tax-exempt bonds, loans, and credit enhancements. For the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program, students are provided with scholarships equal up to $12,205 for high school and up to $8,136 for elementary and middle school.

The ability to turn around failing schools is often hampered by bureaucratic red tape and politics. However, D.C. is an excellent example of full mayoral control in our country. In 2007, D.C. granted the mayor control of its public school system. Because D.C.'s government has both state and city functions, the mayor exercises both state and local control when it comes to education. The state superintendent reports to a deputy mayor for education, who reports to the mayor. District of Columbia Public Schools is managed by a chancellor who reports directly to the mayor. The mayor has full policymaking and operational authority over the schools and is fully empowered to intervene in low-performing schools.

Given the limited resources available for public education, states must ensure that the dollars invested drive the greatest change. D.C. law gives wide authority to both the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and public charter schools to realize cost efficiencies through contracting flexibility and other management alternatives. Additionally, the law does not restrict DCPS or public charter schools from re-allocating resources to their greatest needs. Although D.C. law does not contain class-size limits past the third grade, these are currently imposed in DCPS through its contract with teachers. If these restrictions were removed, the school system could have the flexibility to invest limited resources in what research has shown to be more effective in improving performance, such as performance pay. D.C. should empower data-driven decisionmaking by improving the financial data it collects and linking spending to academic achievement.

Attracting a high-quality workforce will require a competitive retirement plan. Portable retirement options, such as 401(k) plans, are an essential component of compensation packages and make the teaching profession more competitive. It is a classic win-win for teachers and districts. Under current policy, D.C. requires employees of traditional schools to participate in its defined benefit plan. These plans promise teachers a payout based on years of service and salary, not the actual amount contributed to or earned through the fund. If teachers leave before reaching retirement age, they risk losing a significant portion of their savings. To provide career flexibility and ensure sustainability of the existing system, D.C. should move to a portable employer-sponsored retirement plan and make this option available to public charter schools.