not going to be competing for jobs with kids in national innashville or -- in nashville or san fran francisco. it really clear movement towards national standards and the national assessment are incredibly important. here in d.c., we're looking at proficiency rates. we're looking at the achievement gap that i told you, the 70% ratio achievement gap. at the district level and at the school level, we are looking very closely at whether we are able to close that gap and to move towards insuring that every child is getting a quality education. a race and income level is not the determining factor for the educational attainment levels. >> my question -- my mom is a teacher, actually. in 2010, you will be addressing the conversation of the quality of teachers in america. when will you be addressing the payment of teachers in america? >> i am trying. not too long ago, we introduced a proposal that would call for a radically different compensation system here in washington d.c. basically, it was very interesting. what we called for was a two- tier system. every teacher would have their choice of whic