May 08, 2008
Shhh. Don't tell anyone, but teachers question tenure
School principals complain it's almost impossible to get rid of bad teachers, who are triply protected by tenure, civil service rules and their unions. Apparently, teachers agree.
More than half (55%) of 1,000 teachers surveyed by Education Sector, a nonpartisan think tank, say it is very difficult to remove incompetent, tenured teachers in their school districts. Only 13 percent said that's not the case. Another 33 percent said they were not sure.
Almost half of the teachers (46 percent) say they know a teacher in their own building who is past the probationary period but who is clearly ineffective and shouldn't be in the classroom (42 percent said they do not know such a teacher).
Nearly seven out of 10 teachers (69 percent) call the awarding of tenure "just a formality -- it has little to do with whether a teacher is good or not."
The report, called "Waiting to be Won Over", is well worth reading. It's available on the Education Sector website.
AP rounds out its story with related information.
A study of Chicago public schools last year found that more than 90% of teachers received one of the top two possible evaluation ratings -- superior or excellent. Hardly any received the bottom two ratings -- satisfactory or unsatisfactory.
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