“Many out there will be surprised to learn these proposals come from teacher unions, which are not afraid to take risks and share the responsibility for student success.”
- AFT President Randi Weingarten.

Count me among the surprised. This Newsweek article caught the story right at its outset, and laid out the basic--and stunning--lede:

Not only is the AFT, the nation's second largest teachers union, apparently dropping its long-standing opposition to compensation systems that would reward teachers who actually help their students learn, the union is affirmatively incentivizing its local affiliates to develop pay-for-performance plans through a $3.3. million innovation fund.

Count me among the new cheerleaders for the AFT, as this announcement marks, by my count, a third bold move on the part of unions in the right direction (move #1 here and #2 here).

This latest bold move comes as an analog to President Obama's already much publicized "Race To The Top Fund" to reward states that are innovating in terms of improving student achievement. One of the major criterion for fund eligibility is that states allow a linkage between student achievement data and teacher compensation. At the time, the unions opposed the idea.

No news yet on whether the AFT's innovation fund marks a shift in policy on the RTTT Fund's criteria, but either way $3.3. million to fund local union affiliate performance pay systems is nothing to sneer at. Who knows if it is the unions trying to rehab their image or if it is basic real politic: change is a-coming and perhaps Ms. Weingarten sees that it's better to be a part of the reform than to be on the outside looking in.

The upshot for kids is, eight school districts will now be taught by teachers who work under local union structures that are experimenting with new teacher evaluation systems, teacher pay systems, and other innovative ideas. It remains to be seen how effective any of the plans are, but at minimum we're seeing just more evidence of a shifting political consensus on what used to be a taboo concept: that teachers get paid based on how much students learn.

It's a promising development that could have profound implications for the human capital pipeline in teaching (i.e., would you be more interested in starting a career in teaching if you could make $60,000 in year three because your kids are learning a lot, or $40,000 regardless of whether they're learning anything at all?)... Eyes turn now towards the NEA, the largest teachers union in the country, to see if they'll come up with a similar innovation fund.