School Reform - Tenure

Before taking on the issue of tenure, I want to identify what ought to be the goal of school reform. The goal of any reform ought to be to improve student learning. It's my belief that school reform is affected by greater issues and concerns than tenure. Eliminating tenure will likely have little significant impact on student learning and success.

Most people really don't want to touch the issue of tenure. For a long period of time tenure had to be a part of the American education scene. Quite simply, without it, schools were notorious for getting rid of teachers after a few years. They fired teachers because the longer teachers stayed at a school, the more it cost the district. Teachers were let go, not because of the quality of their teaching; rather, due to cutting costs. Tenure was instituted to stop this tactic.

In some instances, where budgets are constrained, I have no doubt that, without tenure, local school boards would let people go after a few years. There are plenty of areas of this country where school boards face such budget woes. That's why tenure is needed.

For the most part, though, tenure has outlived its usefulness. Tenure, in many states, kicks in after two, three or four years. Quite honestly, schools can usually determine whether a teacher can 'make the grade' within a few years of being employed. There are plenty of in-service aids that can assist teachers to improve their performance and, in turn, help with improving student performance.

If there are honest brokers in collective bargaining ( a big caveat for sure) then both sides ought to be able to figure out ways to retain good teachers and to search for ways to help them improve their classroom performance. Again, the ultimate goal is to help kids. Tenure in and of itself won't assure meeting that end.

An agreement needs to be reached that goes something like this...schools won't fire teachers due to budgetary concerns while teacher associations and unions will drop their need for tenure and instead insist on school sponsored programs that will aid in teacher development. Once such an arrangement is arrived at, and only then, tenure can be dispensed with.

The institution of tenure was arrived at through collective bargaining. The elimination of it, along the lines I've described in the previous paragraph, needs to be accomplished through the same collective bargaining process.

Dick