Record prices for oil, gas and other forms of energy are fueling efforts to increase conservation and develop alternative energy sources to reduce America's dependence on foreign sources of oil.

In America, oftentimes it takes a crisis to awaken people and create a willingness to change. That appears to be happening with high prices for oil and gasoline, now considered an economic and security threat to the nation.

And there is evidence a similar shift might be happening in the field of public education — where failing urban schools, and too many mediocre schools elsewhere, also are seen as a threat to national prosperity in the global economy.

Consistently bad results for public schools, particularly in poor, big-city neighborhoods, are sparking renewed efforts at reform. A closely watched effort is happening in Washington, D.C., long ranked the worst-performing and highest-cost school system in the country.

In Washington, school district chancellor Michelle Rhee says she wants District teachers to be "the most highly compensated and competent" teachers in the country.

But that's what every leader of every school district in the nation wants. In Washington, however, Rhee is pushing revolutionary change to achieve that objective. She is negotiating a two-tiered contract with the teachers' union that would offer one track featuring significantly higher salaries — in exchange for teachers giving up tenure and seniority-based pay. The other track would maintain the status quo.

Her radical new idea is that the best and most-effective teachers should receive the highest pay. Rhee's program, if approved, would end the practice of, for example, paying two teachers the same salary because they both have 15 years of experience and a master's degree — despite the fact that one teacher is inspiring her class to perform at a high level while the other teacher is just going through the motions.

The teachers who choose the new program would be eligible for thousands of dollars in raises and bonuses based on annual performance reviews and various student test results to gauge their effectiveness in the classroom. The new program would allow the best teachers to be paid $130,000 a year.

Rhee's program also would allow ineffective teachers to be removed more easily than they are in conventional union-contract environments.

IfRhee makes real progress in Washington's troubled schools, the new approach will be copied by struggling urban schools elsewhere. Eventually, the concept of merit pay might even reach more rural communities, such as Butler County.

It will take a significant culture shift to be accepted by most teachers. But, better teachers who are confident in their abilities would be prepared to be judged — and compensated — based on results in the classroom. The best, most competent teachers should be expected to opt for a merit-pay program.

Beyond what happens in Washington's schools, the presidential campaign has the potential to shift thinking about public education. Presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama voiced support for merit-pay for teachers in one speech during the primary campaign. There reportedly was a considerable "blowback" from teachers unions after the speech, and he has not mentioned the topic much since then.

But by supporting merit pay, Obama showed that he was open to new thinking, and ideas not strictly in lock step with Democratic or union thinking. Such a nondoctrinaire, problem-solving approach broadens his appeal among independent voters and would improve his chances of being elected in November.

To help defend against charges that he is just a typical liberal, Obama should, according to one Wall Street Journal columnist, offer "a new deal for teachers." The writer, whose new book is titled "The Tyranny of Dead Ideas," explained that Obama knows that a new generation of teachers is needed for the nation's poorest schools, which recruit from the lower third of college graduates. He also noted that just throwing more money at the problem has proven to be ineffective.

Instead, Obama should offer "a bold new 'grand bargain' to reshape the profession. He should take a $30 billion pot of federal money available to states and districts to boost salaries in poor schools, provided the teachers unions make two key concessions — scrap the traditional 'lock step' pay scale and make it easy to fire awful teachers."

The Journal writer predicted the reaction to such a bold idea being pushed by Obama, saying, "The unions will scream. But young teachers will crave the chance to earn $150,000 if they excel. And smart union leaders know that something like this money-for-reform deal is the only way the public will ever invest to bolster teaching."

A new approach is needed when it comes to powering America's cars, trucks, homes and businesses. Similarly, a new approach is needed when it comes to public education and how teachers are compensated.

Most Americans can see the need for both of these changes. Common sense and bold ideas from leaders will guide the way, but the public needs to get behind both movements.