First-year teachers in the low-performing schools would earn more than $50,000.

Principals at several low-performing schools said they faced similar problems.

We've developed programs to help turn around low-performing schools.

But some low-performing schools that have shown significant improvement may be allowed to choose their own program.

Thus, Act 35 substantially raised the bar for low-performing schools.

He has also increased starting salaries of certified teachers who come from outside the system and move into low-performing schools.

"It struggled for a long time with the problem of turning around low-performing schools," he said.

Only those low-performing schools are named in which there has been a pattern of declining performance for three years.

The federal government has put 10 schools in the district on a list of low-performing schools.

One possibility, he added, will be to help states increase their capacity for improving low-performing schools.