In the fall of 2012, Dr. Andres Alonso had much to celebrate about in his five-year tenure as CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, including the approval and implementation of an innovative teachers' contract with a jointly-governed four-tier career pathway that tied teacher pay and promotion to performance and peer review. Nonetheless, Alonso was concerned about the future of the contract and the reforms it introduced. It took two votes before the teachers ratified the contract in November 2010. Since then, implementation had been laborious, complicated, and uncertain. many questions would have to be answered in the coming months. Was the district making the transition to a contract that rewarded "engagement" in a career pathway rather than passive reliance on steps and lanes? Were the processes for earning Achievement Units and progressing through the pathways rigorous enough so that the contract wouldn't default to the past practice where everyone moves up and earns more money? Were the joint governance structures established to direct and manage the career pathways, pay system, and peer-review process working effectively? How did the new system support the district's underlying theory of change?

This is a PELP case study. In the space of three months, all Central Falls High School staff had been publicly fired, told to reapply for their jobs, and then rehired. At the heart of the controversy were low student achievement scores and graduation rates; only seven percent of 11th grade students were proficient in math, 55 percent in reading, and the four-year graduation rate was 52 percent. Coinciding with the state's intense effort to win a share of the $4.35 billion in the federal government's Race to the Top (RTTT) education reform competition, the events were often portrayed in the national media as a fight between responsible reformers and self-interested unions. But, a closer look revealed a more complex situation. The requirements of a 1997 state law, which authorized the state commissioner to intervene in low-performing schools, appeared to conflict with the state's collective bargaining law, which required districts to negotiate with their teachers' union about hours, salary, working conditions, and all other terms of professional employment. The current union contract would not expire until August 2011. In addition, there was confusion about what the process of selecting an intervention model should involve and who from among the potential stakeholders-taxpayers, district administrators, state officials, the teachers' union, teachers, parents, students and others-should participate. The mass firing also raised the issue of whether staff were actually being fired or simply laid off, which had important consequences for the district's future obligations to former employees.

As a key means for improving student performance, over the past three years, the central office of Baltimore City Public Schools has steadily shifted responsibility for resource management to schools. Since 2007, when Andres Alonso became CEO, principals have gone from controlling 3% of their budgets to controlling roughly 80%. This case discusses how pushing resource management to the schools fits into a broader strategy that links a principal's autonomy to improved academic results. It delves into the rationale for the change, challenges and benefits of this strategy, and the system of supports and structures that have been developed in response to the implementation challenges.

Pat Pratt Cook joins Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) as the Chief Human Resource Officer after the Superintendent Dr. Bill Green convinces her that HR will take on a more strategic role in the District. Pratt Cook arrives to find an HR department dramatically affected by recent budget cuts and limited by a bureaucratic culture focused on the basic employment transactions. Furthermore, the MPS is in the middle of contentious teachers' contract negotiations,and Pratt Cook is expected to take a leading role. The MPS negotiating team secures a school-based hiring program, called "interview and select," and District administrators work with union leaders to implement the program. A new, collaborative union president is elected andPat Cook looks forward to better working relationships. However, with each success, Pratt Cook finds that new challenges emerge.

Describes the use of data by teachers in a Boston public elementary school and the ways in which the district provided support and development as it implemented its strategy to improve student performance. Discusses the challenges of alignment among district departments and focuses on the school culture needed to engage all teachers in using data for instructional improvement.

Focuses on one principal's efforts to staff her school in the context of a large-scale effort to reform instruction across an urban school district.

Focuses on using compensation as a lever for organizational improvement, highlighting topics such as developing institutional capacity for accountability, effecting organizational change, and working to address systemic misalignment.