In deciding to select just two states to receive $600 million in the first phase of federal grants for improved public education, the Obama administration is sending a clear message about how it intends to reform education — shake up the status quo.

That means, among other things, holding teachers accountable and paying effective ones more money while removing ineffective ones.

As a candidate for president, Barack Obama supported ideas like merit pay for teachers, despite the negative reactions from his political supporters in the teachers unions.

To support his education objectives, Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced a contest of sorts, called Race to the Top, which will give federal grants to states with innovative school plans.

Forty states applied for the grants, which will hand out $4.35 billion to promote innovative school reform programs. Obama and Duncan have said funding will not go to education systems doing business-as-usual. The first two grants, announced last week, made that clear.

The winning states, Tennessee and Delaware, reveal some of what the White House sees as education reform. In both states, school administrators and teachers unions were both on board with reform plans. And, perhaps more importantly, both states intend to base part of teachers' pay on classroom effectiveness and how well their students perform.

Such merit pay concepts generally are opposed by teachers unions, which say evaluating a teacher's effectiveness is impossible. But few people outside of the union world accept that view, even while recognizing that teacher evaluation is not an exact science.

Most schools contain a few exceptional teachers, lots of fairly effective teachers and a few who are not up to par or are not putting in the effort.

To suggest that there are some ineffective or even bad teachers is not teacher-bashing — it's just a recognition of reality and reflects the same reality that is found among any large group of doctors, engineers, accountants or lawyers.

Those who say that it's impossible to evaluate teachers or identify those at the top or the bottom are wrong. Students, parents and administrators at any school know who the best teachers are — as well as who should not be in the classroom.

Merit-pay plans say that the best teachers should be rewarded with more money and serve as mentors to inspire others. The worst teachers should be given help to improve, but if they do not respond to the extra help, they should be removed from the classroom.

With the first Race to the Top awards, Tennessee will receive $500 million and Delaware is getting $100 million to fund school reform. The winners were selected from 16 states, including Pennsylvania, which were selected as finalists by the federal Department of Education's comprehensive scoring system.

For too long, America's public education has been failing too many students. That's particularly true in urban settings, where graduation rates are scandalously low and many graduates lack basic skills including math as well as reading and writing.

Obama's new approach to education reform is a refreshing break from the status quo. Holding teachers accountable is an important first step, one that unions must accept if progress is to be made.

Union rhetoric that brands such calls for accountability and removal of inferior teachers as "bashing" teachers is nonsense. Unions elsewhere, notably in the automobile industry, have recognized reality and accepted change. It's time for teachers unions to do the same.

Every year that failing schools are allowed to exist, many thousands of children are denied a quality education and sent out into the world with huge disadvantages that hurt them and society. And when school failure is sustained, entire generations of children are betrayed and left ill-equipped to become productive members of society.

Obama and Duncan deserve credit for pushing for real change and taking these bold first steps toward improving public education in America.