In 1994, Douglas County, Colo., schools became the nation's first school district to extensively overhaul its system of paying teachers.

        Teachers in the 38,000-student district are evaluated on their skills and teacher groups on their performance. The system includes bonuses based on outstanding teacher service and raises only if teachers rate well on their annual evaluation.

        Until then, pay scales had been based on their years of experience, not teacher quality.

        Elsewhere, a pay-for-performance pilot was approved in 1999 for a dozen Denver schools, and the state of Iowa in 2001 approved a pay-for-performance system for its teachers.

        But none is considered as ambitious as Cincinnati's plan, to be voted on by teachers Wednesday.

        “I would argue that all others are tepid,” said Allan Odden, a University of Wisconsin-Madison education professor who helped design Cincinnati's system and works with school districts nationwide. “Cincinnati is proposing to completely restructure its pay system.”

        Comparing Cincinnati's model to others would be like “comparing walking the 100-yard dash to running a marathon,” he said.

        Under Cincinnati's plan:

        • Teachers receive a comprehensive evaluation every five years, when they are evaluated by administrators and teacher evaluators.

        • Teachers are scored on 17 standards of quality teaching.

        • Teachers receive a base salary tied to their scores on their evaluations. If voted in, all teachers would go on a five-year cycle of comprehensive evaluations by 2005-06. Some of the most experienced teachers — those with 16 or more years of experience — can choose not to tie their evaluations to pay.

        If the system were in place, 227 teachers evaluated last year would have qualified for salary increases (an average increase of $5,659) based on their evaluations, according to associate superintendent Kathleen Ware.

        Sixty-three teachers would have had their pay cut. Before any loss of pay, teachers would undergo a year of professional training before receiving a second evaluation.

Decision near on teacher pay plan

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