This amendment provides $50,000 the first year for grants to school divisions of up to $5,000 each to explore alternative teacher compensation approaches that move away from tenure-based step increases toward compensation systems based on teacher performance and student progress. Priority will be given to school divisions that have not previously explored alternative compensation approaches and have schools not achieving full accreditation, or that have high numbers of at-risk students needing qualified teachers in hard-to-staff subjects. This amendment also provides $2.1 million the second year, which is approximately 2.5 percent of the annual allocation for the 2 percent salary increase, to initiate and support efforts to attract, train, and retain quality teachers in hard-to-staff schools. The funding will provide competitive multi-year grants to help initiate change to more dynamic teacher compensation systems designed to increase teacher quality, effectiveness, and satisfaction, and generate higher student achievement. High-need schools will be defined, in part, as schools not achieving full accreditation and schools with high numbers of at-risk students needing qualified teachers in hard-to-staff subjects. The funding may encourage school divisions to re-think how they combine their support with their salary structure to move away from the typical step increases based on tenure, to a system based on teacher performance and student progress.