The evaluation system — one of the first in the nation to tie teacher job security and paychecks to class performance — has been central to the District’s high-profile education efforts over the past decade. It’s one of the more discussed legacies of Michelle Rhee, who gained national recognition as the District’s public schools chancellor from 2007 to 2010.
In 2009, Rhee enacted the evaluation system unilaterally, without engaging the teachers union in negotiations. The implementation of IMPACT led to the firing of hundreds of teachers and heightened tensions between the school system and the union that persist today. The Washington Teachers’ Union has said the evaluation system creates a culture of fear and can be easily weaponized by principals to get rid of teachers they dislike. The union has unsuccessfully attempted to make IMPACT part of the bargaining process.