Teacher Tenure: The Holy Grail of the Teaching Profession
Since I truly believe in my mind that anyone reading into this subject initially has the attributes of a scholar, I hope to set forth an intellectual and reasoned plan to effectively negotiate the future of teacher tenure. I have had first-hand experience, from kindergarten to twelfth grade, with both proficient and incompetent tenured teachers. Looking back now, I realize that my eleventh grade AP World History teacher and my eighth grade U.S. History teacher both had tenure and responded in two very different ways. My eighth grade teacher seemed to have no incentive to continue teaching. She had lost all joy by continuing to teach without changing her curriculum and her students suffered from the lack of enthusiasm. On the other hand, my eleventh grade teacher was the most out-going and energetic person I have ever met. Despite being an elderly woman, it seemed that her desire to share all of her knowledge just burst out of her. I was always captivated in class as she switched styles of teaching to introduce our class to more involved critical thinking. Those are the kind of teachers that we want teaching students today.
In an article published in Public School Review, Grace Chen says that “a changing world economy and increased focus on our nation’s education system are bringing teacher tenure into the spotlight, and some say it is a tradition that may be outdated” (Chen, par. 1). This is currently an important and relevant topic as the economy is currently in a recession and the need for steady jobs is always increasing. Tenure is a form of job security for teachers and its “primary purpose is to protect competent teachers from arbitrary nonrenewal of contract for reasons unrelated to the educational process -- personal beliefs, personality conflicts with administrators or school board members, and the like” (James, par. 2). Clashes of private matters should not be involved in schools at all, let alone the matter of jobs, as it negatively affects the students. “The intent of tenure is to allow original ideas to be more likely to arise, by giving scholars the intellectual autonomy to investigate the problems and solutions about which they are most passionate, and to report their honest conclusions” (“Tenure”, par. 2). In all professional jobs, the ability to have autonomy of judgment and research is a requisite.
Tenure was formed on the foundation of supply and demand, and “just as steel and auto workers fought against unsafe working conditions and unlivable wages, teachers too demanded protection from parents and administrators who would try to dictate lesson plans…” (Stephey, par. 4). Teachers quickly saw the positive implications of tenure and over two million teachers had tenure by 2008 (ProCon, par. 1). The growing numbers of teachers with this support system displays how significant this controversy is.
The population that is unconvinced with applying tenure nationwide claim that once educators are rewarded, it “inadvertently protects incompetent teachers from being fired” (Stephey, par. 2). Administrators become afraid to punish tenured teachers because of the extremely high cost and effort associated with letting them go. A nonpartisan source that presents facts and studies that address the issues of tenure at the K-12 level states that tenure “removes incentives for teachers to put in more than the minimum effort and to focus on improving their teaching” (ProCon, par. 11). These are all valid reasons for the removal of tenure, but the one that should be addressed the most is the opinion that tenure is more involved with the teachers and their welfare than with the students, which is truly where our concern as promoters of the educational system and student welfare should lie (Chen, par. 5).
There are a few common misconceptions about tenure that need to be understood before any negotiations can be made. Many people believe that tenure is the problem to more educational problems than it can possibly take credit for. “Eliminating tenure will not reduce class sizes or make schools cleaner and safer. If tenure is abolished, problems of underfunding, overcrowding, and lack of control over students’ home lives will persist” (ProCon, par. 7). The stereotype that tenure guarantees a teacher a job for life is false. The use of tenure really only serves two purposes: job security and non-restricted research or beliefs for the teachers. It has no effect on the educational system’s problems that are listed above.
The most common reasons for firing teachers are economic and political, not inability on the teacher’s behalf, as one might believe. The feeling that a spot is reserved for you alone makes you feel confident, which is exactly what tenure does to teachers—for a certain period of time. “Teachers work better when they do not have fears of being fired. Without the anxiety and fear of losing employment, teachers can focus their efforts on providing the best education for students” (ProCon, par. 13). This displays the opposite of the basic argument that the skeptics of tenure were trying to convey; they stated that tenure caused teachers to be presented above students, but in actuality, the system causes students to become the main focus.
Chen explains that “a tenured teacher cannot be fired on the whim of a school administrator; charges will need to be filed, evaluations submitted, and hearings held” (par. 2). The lack of motivation that some say go hand-in-hand with the increase of job security is always possible, but that is why a revised tenure law should be admitted. This new addition would keep teachers honest, assuming they are all worthwhile, until the uncommitted ones are weeded out.
Having these secure jobs in the tenure system would stop the excessive firing of teachers with dissimilar political views and therefore increase the flow of capable educators into school systems. Since knowing that job security is within reach, there would be more college students aspiring to be teachers. The more teachers applying for each position, the less chance a corrupt principal could find a way to only hire close family members, friends or parallel voters. “Tenure encourages the careful selection of qualified and effective teachers. Since it is difficult to remove tenured teachers, tenure encourages school administrators to take more care when making hiring decisions” (ProCon, par. 11). Removal of tenure would allow the irresponsible and hasty hiring of new teachers, and then consequently the abrupt firing of the old educators as well.
I think there should be a higher regard for the importance of teacher experimentation in the classroom. Teachers that incorporate different styles of instruction often receive the best results because the students are more engaged. The educators without tenure that yearn to go above and beyond admit to being afraid to introduce their students to provocative ideas or new critical thinking concepts. To give students the proper schooling they need, how can we as Americans let teachers instruct only generalized topics and not think “out of the box”?
Fellow promoters, it is obvious that we care about the welfare of students in the educational system. We can agree that we want to teach students with the best teachers. Parents are always encouraging their kids to reach for the stars and follow whatever path in life intrigues them. They are always there to help to the best of their ability with whatever their kids are having difficulty with. They know the importance of school and how instrumental the educators are in the learning process. So why would any parent want the principal’s sister-in-law teaching their kids when there are fully licensed, capable and experienced educators standing around? Teacher tenure can help by assuring teachers with consistently good records that a job is secure for them and no one can take that away for political or economic reasons.
The debate over how or if teachers are reevaluated for tenure is a major component in the controversy. Dan Goldhaber is a professor in interdisciplinary arts and sciences at the University of Washington, Bothell. His work focuses on K-12 educational productivity and addresses the role that structure plays in teacher recruitment. Goldhaber explains his VAM, or value-added model, which involves an extremely complicated formula for the assessment of teachers that incorporates family background characteristics, teacher, grade, year, math and reading tests. He states that evaluations based solely on accomplishments are not fully representative of a teacher’s full capability, and that his model is more accurate in determining future effectiveness (Goldhaber 5). Goldhaber states that observable qualities of the educator, such as number of years of experience, type and level of degree, college selectivity and licensure test scores are not as important as actual student improvement. This finding reinforces that these estimates are a reasonable scale to use as a factor in making personnel decisions. This is again reaffirming that tenure focuses overall on the students, not the educators.
The fundamental question comes down to, “how do you get rid of bad teachers without breaking the bank and how do you reward good teachers?” We need to come up with a long-term fix, coming not just from student test results or just from teacher characteristics, but from a number of methods. This will add more time and effort into the process, but I believe it is necessary for the success of student education nationwide. The mutual resolution comes from a mixture of both extremes, and the best possible solution involves the combination of evaluations tied in with student performance results.
Tenure should not even be considered until after the educator’s fifth school year has been completed at a single location. Evaluations should be conducted every four years after the initial tenure reward to determine if the educator is eligible for a renewing of the tenure agreement. This promotes creativity in the classroom and new styles of teaching, including debates and creative thinking exercises. The evaluations would have a guideline and would be conducted by a third party. If deemed necessary, an arbitrator, not a judge, would rule the dismissal case (ProCon, par. 17).
Another problem with the educational system today is the incentive for the teachers. Teachers interested in helping special needs students or working for impoverished schools should be compensated accordingly. “In 2008, DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee proposed giving teachers the option of linking pay to performance in exchange for teachers giving up tenure. The vote in June of 2010 showed that eighty percent of teacher’s voted in favor of the option” (ProCon, par. 15). Having teachers declining tenure is their personal decision and balance between the risky nature of potentially being fired suddenly and the higher pay grade that would be received.
The solution for the tenure controversy is not that far off. It will just require the collaboration of respected policymakers to bring the proposed resolution to reality and the assistance of all who care for the greater good of America. If the controversy of teacher tenure is delayed further, the negative effects on students will be hidden; students cannot afford to wait for responsible teachers. My purpose is to bring light to the different vantage points within teacher tenure and increase awareness to the ongoing problem within our own nation. Hiring politically or economically friendly teachers over the tenured and captivating teachers helps no one.
Works Cited
Chen, Grace. “Teachers and Tenure: Both Sides of the Heated Debate - Public School Review.”
Public School Review - Profiles of USA Public Schools. 2 Mar. 2010. Web. 27 Mar. 2011.
Goldhaber, Dan, Michael Hansen, and National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in
Education Research (CALDER) Urban Institute. “Using Performance on the Job to Inform Teacher Tenure Decisions. Brief 10.” National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (2010): ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 30 Mar. 2011.
James, Scott. “Teacher Tenure.” ERIC Digest, Number 19. 1986. Web. 10 Apr. 2011.
ProCon.org. “Teacher Tenure ProCon.org.” teachertenure.procon.org. ProCon.org, 14 Feb. 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2011.
Stephey, M.J. “A Brief History of Tenure - TIME.” Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. 17 Nov. 2008. Web. 27 Mar. 2011.
“Tenure.” New World Encyclopedia. newworldencyclopedia.com. 5 Apr. 2008. Web. 10 Apr.
2011.
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