Failure must not be a ticket to job security. That’s why we applaud Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Andres Alonso for requiring teachers at eight schools whose students’ dismal test scores have not improved for five years to reapply for their jobs.

Improvement takes time, and test scores must not be the only measure of learning. But five years is long enough to assess progress and to demand teachers and school administrators explain themselves. Even if the parents of students in those schools don’t care about the learning environment in them, each of us must if we want a well-prepared work force and a thriving city.

As Alonso told the state school board last week, “My goal is to make every single person in the city accountable for the success of our kids.”

The best part of his decision is that it is not isolated. It is one part of a plan making each school more accountable to the learning of its students. Other pieces of that plan include giving principals more autonomy over school finances and curriculum and shifting resources away from central headquarters to the schools.

These reforms are not surface changes. They will fundamentally shift the culture to one that lifts student learning to the school system’s top priority. Every city resident should thank Alonso for his courage in steering the school system toward that goal. We will all reap the benefits if he achieves it.