Giving an F to Tenure
For all of the talk about how underpaid that California’s teachers are (and many are), they have a few perks not available to most of us. Top of that list is the lifetime tenure policy that teachers enjoy after just a short time on the job. Tenure protects all teachers, both good and bad.
Because of tenure, underperforming teachers have a lifetime pass from having to improve. This results in too many bad teachers and too little that can be done with them. The damage done to students by bad teachers is evident to anyone who has ever had one (and who hasn’t?). Area Man himself can remember quite a few teachers (e.g., Mrs. Glinshanko) who for reasons unknown had long since given up trying.
It is time to think of the students and limit this restrictive practice once and for all. California is putting an initiative on the ballot but it must pass and there are 49 other states to go.
Similar Independent Sources posts:
- It’s All About The Kids … Isn’t It?: Teachers in Manhattan Beach are embroiled in contract negotiations, and guess who suffers? According to the local weekly Easy Reader: Manhattan Beach ...
- Bringing New Meaning to the Phrase “Failure is not an option”: How things have changed in the many years since the Independent Sources contributors were in school. In those days, most kids would learn enough to pa ...
- Lowering the Bar on High School Exit Exams: The LA Times reports that "momentum is growing to provide alternatives to California's controversial high school exit exam." This is a test that provi ...
- Black Kids Doing Better In School … Without Ebonics!: Amidst our glee at the Ebonics explosion of the last 48 hours (see Blogpulse chart here), we missed news about last week's release of the 2004 Nationa ...
- Oh, No! More Ward Churchill; Mainstream Media Discovers Pirate Ballerina: Three weeks ago, we told you about Pirate Ballerina—our favorite Ward Churchill site. It might as well be my home page. This week, the Denver Po ...
