Let's be clear on tenure.
A friend of mine is a principal at an urban high school. I was talking with a parent at the school once and she said, sort of amazed, “He fires people!”
Yes, it is rare for principals to fire teachers. No, it is not impossible. The process to remove an incompetent school employee may be complicated, but tenure does not mean the same thing in K-12 than it does in universities, and it certainly does not guarantee a job for life. It generally lays out strictures for the dismissal process, which varies by jurisdiction.
As the conversation over teacher tenure heats up, it is important for journalists to provide clarity on the issue: what tenure means, what dismissal requires, why administrators do or, more often, do not follow through on the procedure, and so on. Also, could the tenure rules be modified rather than tenure thrown out altogether? J.K. Wall of the Indianapolis Business Journal did a good job explaining the issue in Indiana; I would love to see more.
Yes, it is rare for principals to fire teachers. No, it is not impossible. The process to remove an incompetent school employee may be complicated, but tenure does not mean the same thing in K-12 than it does in universities, and it certainly does not guarantee a job for life. It generally lays out strictures for the dismissal process, which varies by jurisdiction.
As the conversation over teacher tenure heats up, it is important for journalists to provide clarity on the issue: what tenure means, what dismissal requires, why administrators do or, more often, do not follow through on the procedure, and so on. Also, could the tenure rules be modified rather than tenure thrown out altogether? J.K. Wall of the Indianapolis Business Journal did a good job explaining the issue in Indiana; I would love to see more.
posted by Linda Perlstein at
1:13 PM
3 Comments:
Yes, most of these arguments rest on a misunderstanding of "tenure" for K-12 teachers, which is not true tenure in the college sense. After a probationary period of two to five years, teachers are guaranteed "due process" before they are fired. This is to make certain they are not dismissed for unethical reasons (making room for the school board member's niece, etc.). I believe this is similar to the rules for dismissing all government employees, such as the city librarian or the police officer.
When Michelle Rhee wanted to fire teachers she found out about the "ninety day plan" and hired extra administrators to follow it. By doing so, she proved that a teacher can be dismissed. It is not that difficult if the process is followed.
For most of my 42 years as a teacher, my districts had great difficulty retaining teachers, especially in the low-income part of town. For this reason, almost every teacher received a "satisfactory" evaluation. In all those years, only a few permanent teachers were even asked to resign. Most did so and were listed as "retirements" or "resignations." The only teachers who are "fired" are those who commit crimes or demonstrate gross negligence on the job (they don't show up).
So the real problem is supply and demand. Until recently there weren't enough teachers so almost everyone was retained. Now that there's a recession, politicians know that they can save millions by declaring the older teachers "unsatisfactory" and replacing them with younger, less expensive people right out of college.
Teachers in "rubber rooms" are often people who are fighting serious charges such as sex abuse. Teachers who are falsely accused can hardly be expected to accept it and go quietly. Many of these teachers are themselves victims.
It's important for journalists to educate the public about the meaning of "tenure" for teachers. It does NOT mean that they can't be fired.
Has anyone noticed that Michelle Rhee and ALL other "reformers" do not want to be classroom teachers? Well, that's the problem we have in education. That's why over 90% of teachers get "excellent" evaluations. Not too many college educated people are eager to teach seventh grade in the "inner-city." If we take due process away from teachers, the situation will surely become much worse.
Our neighbor to the north offers a solution for us. They have very strong unions for teachers, strict job protection and higher salaries. And their students achieve at higher rates than ours. Now why don't we try that?
http://educationnext.org/nobody-deserves-tenure/
Post a Comment
Considerate comments are welcome. Uncivil remarks will be deleted. Anonymous comments -- including those unaccompanied by the author's first and last name -- are not permitted.
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home