The school district in Anne Arundel County, Md., this spring entered into what appears to be a unique contract with the local teachers' union over struggling Annapolis High School: Teachers will work year-round and make a commitment to stay at the school for three years. Designed by Superintendent Kevin Maxwell to fend off a state takeover, the plan requires all 193 staff members to reapply for their jobs, a strategy he has described as "zero basing." The contract appears to be the first in the nation to focus on a single school and to require such sweeping changes. But it is the latest in a string of agreements designed by districts and unions to turn around failing schools as they struggle to fulfill federal mandates. This article talks about the agreements that districts and unions have forged to try to turn around troubled schools.