Catherwood LibraryILR School

Washington DC currently struggles with one of the most controversial education contracts proposed in recent memory. District schools chancellor Michelle Rhee has proposed that teachers be given the option to earn up to $131,000 in a year, in exchange for absolute job security and the traditional tenure-track pay system. Essentially, Rhee wishes to switch education to a merit pay based system, used by most professional firms, where the best teachers make the money, and those producing poor results fall by the wayside. Unions are in controversy, with most pushing the Washington Local to reject the offer, though some claim to recognize the need for a merit-based and accountable pay system. Union member Jerome Brocks, a 34-year special education teacher, has called the offer ?degrading and insulting.?