Everything Jonathan Alter proposed to Sen. Barack Obama ("Obama needs a bold ed plan," July 15) already exists in Denver because a progressive union, the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, collaborated with Denver Public Schools to develop ProComp.

In Denver, salary increases under ProComp are earned only by proven performance in student growth, professional development and principal evaluation. In the new teacher evaluation process, there are clear steps for a principal to identify and terminate poor teachers; there is no "ironclad job security" in Denver.

Ironically, it is the changes proposed by DPS to ProComp that would step back from accountability for teacher performance. As ProComp is now administered, teachers must meet student growth objectives to receive salary advancement. Under the district's proposal, teachers would only have to write the objectives. They would not have to meet them.

Criticism has been focused specifically on ProComp for paying experienced teachers more than new teachers. ProComp did not create the fact that teachers' salaries grow with experience. ProComp was deliberately designed to make Denver competitive with suburban school districts (where experience is valued and rewarded), with the explicit goal of keeping quality teachers from leaving Denver for higher pay in the suburbs.

Margaret Bobb, a resident of Denver, is a ProComp board member.