We Must Reform Teacher Tenure Essay

Academic tenure has allowed under-performing teachers the privilege of keeping their job no matter what. Some feel that they do not have to properly teach after they have earned tenure. Students do not get a proper education because of this and teachers cannot be fired because of the job security that tenure has granted them. Brian

This paper will effectively detail the issues surrounding policy as it pertains to teacher reform for New Jersey Tenure Laws. I will discuss why this new reform has made it impossible to terminate non-effective teachers because of the protection that TEACHNJ provides. I will also discuss inaccuracies as it pertains to accountability and transparency under the new tenure laws. Lastly, I will discuss the teacher rating system and evaluation system that rates teachers in four categories, from highly effective to ineffective. Teacher evaluations would be based on measures of student learning, such as improvement of state test scores, student work, and other practices linked to student achievement. The New Jersey Education Association has proposed streamlining the legal process for removing teachers, but has adamantly defended the basic job protection of tenure, saying it prevents unfair dismissal, favoritism and attempts to save money by firing expensive veterans. The state’s largest teacher’s union also vehemently opposes judging teachers largely on test scores, saying that doing so penalizes teachers with the most difficult students, and that the data is unreliable. Teachers are fearful of losing their jobs if they don’t raise test scores, teachers will redouble their test-preparation efforts, and quality instruction will be sacrificed,” NJEA President Barbara Keshishian said in a statement. “Parents should be alarmed and dismayed at this proposal.” (Brody)

Moreover, teacher tenure will be "reformed" so that principals and superintendents will have additional decision-making "discretion"; in other words, power will be taken from unions and given to bureaucrats within the state educational system, and tenure for teachers will be based on a new strategy that is, teachers will have earn "highly effective ratings" five out of six years to achieve tenure (Brennan, p. 2).

A former teacher, Lacey Bishop, who taught at Hillcrest Elementary School was not awarded tenure even though she had received good evaluations from her principal for two consecutive years. In addition, Mrs. Bishop was showered with compliments about her performance by her former principal Katrina Overton (Carroll, 2010). When Mrs. Bishop made it to her third year which made her eligible for tenure, the principal’s views about her performance had changed. In February 2010, when the principal was deciding to grant tenure, the principal complained about Mrs. Bishop’s classroom management, her lack of being prepared, and as a result; she was rated “Proficient” in nine areas, “Developing” in three, and “Unsatisfactory” in one on her Comprehensive

Before reading the article and attending Tuesday evenings class I did not know much about the tenure process, I knew that it was a form of job security for professors but not much more. Reading the National Education Association article gave me an understanding of what the tenure process is and what the importance is of being a tenured professor other than having a sense of job security. The area that stood out to me in the reading for this week was the fourth myth in the article, that most professors have tenure. This was surprising to me because when reading the reality section the author stated that most positions are more than often filled with part-time faculty and rarely put on the tenure track, colleges like to use students as their

There is a consensus among the concerned stakeholders that the quality of teachers is the leading factor in determination of student performance. In the case of United States, the student performance can only be given an impetus by the efforts which the state can make, under all costs, to develop and retain high quality teachers. The measures undertaken determine the level of turnover of the school teachers. Lazear (2009) similarly argues the length of employment is a critical factor in averse risks of employment a trend contrary to teachers treatment. The turnover of public school teachers will refer to the rate at which the state, which is the teacher’s

In order to distinguish if the United States should allow a teacher to become subjects to tenure, one need to recognize the purpose and how that purpose is applied to teachers with tenure. The intention of tenure is to provide job security for teachers (Public Impact, 2011, p.3). For a teacher to earn the

Public school systems should not allow teachers to have tenure. The documentary “The Lottery” tells a story about young children trying to get into a charter school for a better education and better teaching styles. Not to mention if certain kids don’t get in, they could always try again later. In addition to the documentary, it explains in one scene that in the school system, they had to let go about ten or more teachers. “The Lottery” documentary wanted to tell how well students can achieve with teachers who are passionate to help children in need. From Dictionary.com, Tenure is “The Holding or possessing of anything”. Tenure should be taken away from the public school systems, so that students can have a teacher that loves what they do. Not only for teachers, who are good or bad at their job they can’t be protected. In public school systems tenure should think about what is best for any student’s education. Tenure system should be eliminated because giving an education is important to students should be more important.

Professors must meet certain levels of expectations based on their role and current level of tenure. In the current system, many educators are uncertain of these expectations and often do not meet them. Due to this system, some professors are denied tenure because they are not meeting their expectations (Lawrence and Galle). Even so, some professors make it through and are granted lifelong employment. Then something happens. Professors are not held accountable for their actions. They have the academic freedom to do and say as they please even if their students are suffering. Since there are not true expectations, tenured professors cannot be fired. This is not beneficial for the students, the university or even the professor. Just as (week

The tenure is a contractual right to protect teachers from being terminated for political or personal reasons. According to the “Vergara V. California” case, nine students file a lawsuit in California state courts about the teachers has an insufficient teaching method in schools. Student claim that they can’t get a quality education because this system has created an issue. However, teachers are not the only reason that affects students. There are many aspects that may influence students in a negative way, such as the student environment, family, and school resources. If people look at those aspects, they will notice that with poorly performing teachers, people start to take aggressive actions towards the tenure system, which is unfair to the union or CTA. Society should consider the pros and cons to make the decision about whether the tenure system should be eliminated or not. The pros of the tenure system are, it prevents teachers from being fired due to unfair reasons. It can also help teachers perform better in school as a result of being freed from the stress of being fired. On the other hand, tenure makes it difficult to remove inadequate teachers because of the long paper work, along with it is the costly fees to remove deficient teachers. After considering this, the pros of the tenure are the reasons that the tenure system should not be eliminated because it proves tenure is benefits to schools. In addition, there are no guarantees that schools will become better,

Tenure is a type of job security that educators earn once they reach an exact level of expertise. Once a educator has earned tenure, they need to be able to follow the teaching contract as long as they abide by the rules set forth in their contracts. It's believed

The tenure system does have a number of flaws, unfortunately it helps some underperforming teachers retain their position and it makes dismissing a teacher more difficult, but the tenure system helps more qualified teachers than under qualified. If the tenure system was not in place you would have disproportionate numbers of qualified veteran teachers being terminated compared to incompetent instructors. Teachers would have lower compensation and higher turnover rates and there would be less qualified instructors, and the students would suffer as a result. The tenure system benefits not only benefits a qualified veteran teach, it benefits the students and parents with a qualified instructor who can provide a good solid education.

The bottom line is that tenure is a complex issue, most do not understand what it is or how it works. Tenure policies vary from state to state, so its not surprising that most are not really famililar with it. Also it only effects a small number of the population. Many are confused as to just what rights tenured teachers have, or whether they can even be fired.

Tenures refers to an approach which gives educators and teachers a lasting contract, viably guaranteeing them an assurance of work … forever. Teachers that have tenure can't be fired from their duty unless for "worthwhile motivation, for example, serious wrongdoing or inadequacy, and still, at the end of the day ending the tenure can be to a great degree troublesome.

Going back to the tenure and teacher union issues, I agree that everyone has the right to unionize in order to protect their self-interests, but the idea surrounding tenure is something that needs to be re-evaluated, and the teacher’s union needs to jump on board in order to get the education system moving in the right direction. The writers hint at a way in which tenure can be changed, and that is by offering rewards for high student grades instead of the current rule of once tenure is reached, a teacher can keep their position regardless of their efforts in the classroom. The way the movie presents this alternative method is by showing a challenge between the teachers of the school to earn the highest student grades on the state test; winner earning a bonus of $5,700. This type of evaluation based on student grades can also be taken to the opposite end of the spectrum, and teachers who have unacceptable student scores should be evaluated on their teaching methods, and if seen