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Tenure for Teachers 6/26/2014 8:33:45 AM
A federal judge ruled that tenure for teachers in California
was unconstitutional. This is a nice way to lose the good teachers we have.
A judge ruled that California’s tenure laws were unconstitutional. The man (or woman) must not have considered the consequences of his action. For that matter, once again, the media dropped the ball, when not doing a background check on the so-called minority students who brought the law suit. Did they really think conditions would get better if their teachers weren’t given some sort of job security?
I’m not sure about California, but Minnesota requires a teacher evaluation every three years for teachers with tenure, and contrary to popular opinion, they can be fired. The principal must justify his decision with documentation, and the school board must approve. The accused teacher is represented by Uniserv, a pro teacher organization paid for by the union.
Teachers are given tenure after three years of probation, approved by the principal and the school board. Usually the candidate is observed at least three times each year and can be denied tenure after the third year or dismissed prior to that time if the probational teacher is proved incompetent.
Teachers study for four years and student teach for at least nine weeks (in Minnesota) before becoming certified. Few settle for a Bachelor of Science degree as the state requires recertification every five years. Teachers can take classes, workshops etc. to meet recertification requirements. Are doctors and lawyers recertified every five years? Somehow I doubt it. The American Medical Association is a powerful guardian and lawyers also have professional alliances. They can be disbarred, but it’s not a common occurrence. Most teachers who plan to stay in the job until they’re 55 (See the “Rule of Ninety” begin to work on their masters degree in education or another are. Pay increases in “steps”, usually every fifteen credit’s the teacher achieves earns them more money. When I got my masters, I got an eleven thousand dollar raise.
Okay, we don’t have enough good teachers, and we sometimes lose some good ones after a few years. Approximately half of beginning teachers are gone after five years, and it’s usually a voluntary decision. The job doesn’t pay much, for one thing. When I started in 1972, I was making $7200 a year; most of my colleagues took summer jobs, doing such work as house painting to make ends meet, especially if they were married. I then took a job working in a Catholic school for less than $6,000 and I coached basketball and baseball, advised the student council and safety patrol, and ran my own little newspaper (to publish student writing) for nothing. I spent two years there building experience and references. I took another public school job after working on my masters degree as a graduate assistant for one year. I earned my masters in 1981, and I was finally making what you could call a living wage. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s hard to find good people because they can (and will) make a lot more doing something else. Why make it harder? Why politicize the occupation, just because unions tend to support democrats? They’ve got a good reason to support the DFL. Without unions, teachers would make even less money. And the GOP supports such alternatives as home schooling and charter schools, which means even less money for the public schools. They don’t listen very well either. When George W. Bush instituted “No Child Left Behind” teachers were livid. It meant taking time away for learning to administer multiple choice tests. State tests have never been popular among teachers. Students don’t tend to take them seriously. There’s a reason they’re called “multiple guess”.
Another big reason for tenure is that principals and superintendents are people just like the rest of us, and they have their personality quirks. Just because you’re a principal doesn’t mean you possess integrity. All of us like some people and dislike others, sometimes for no good reason, and if we’re in a position of authority, we tend to look for justification for being a little harder on somebody we don‘t like. It’s not that hard when you hold most of the cards. I had one who bugged the teacher’s lounge.
Disallowing tenure is just a dumb idea in my book, and I’ve got to think that the decision was politically motivated.
Dave Schwinghammer's unconventional mystery, SOLDIER'S GAP, is available on Authorsden and at Amazon.com, new and used.
The literary aspects examine how kids who fall through the cracks often turn to the wrong people for guidance. I guess you could also say it's a ghost story, although that's not the main emphasis.
