Cincinnati Teachers To Be Paid on Performance

By Julie Blair

Cincinnati has become what is believed to be the first public school district in the country to scrap its traditional salary structure and replace it with a schedule that bases pay on classroom performance.

The Cincinnati Federation of Teachers ratified the plan Sept. 15, by a vote of 54 percent to 46 percent, ushering in a setup that will align educators' compensation with new guidelines for teaching standards, in-depth assessments, and professional development. Seventy-two percent of the 3,200-member union turned out for the vote. The school board had approved the plan unanimously in May.

"We're being held accountable to a set of higher standards—those that actually produce results in the classroom," said Rick Beck, the president of the CFT, an affiliate of the...