The Tenure Debate free essay sample

For the last one hundred years, teacher tenure has been part Of American public education. The start of the tenure movement paralleled similar labor struggles during the late 1 9th century (Stephen, 2008) and in 1 910 New Jersey was the first state to pass legislation guaranteeing fair dismissal rights to college professors (ibid). The engineers have seen the spread and continuance of tenure to all public educators. Today, tenure is becoming more closely scrutinized than ever due to the importance placed on student test scores, academic progress, and graduation rates. Some teachers argue tenure has become a scapegoat for a whole basket of education and uncial ills (Stephen, 20008). Conversely, others argue that. .. Tenure, more often, protects good teachers from the misconceptions and politics of the job (Sarasota, 2000). When it comes to the issue of teacher tenure, both sides do present valid arguments in their defense. It is well known that there are bad employees at every position in every job. But when poor teachers exist, they can both harm children and the profession. It is well known among teachers that some are better than others. Experienced teachers usually find themselves protected by tenure because it is hard and embarrassing to expose long time weak educators. Many teachers themselves agree that it is very difficult to fire teachers. Between tenure and the documentation requirements, its too hard for administrators to remove any but the very worst teachers. (Closes, 2003, 1 4) All states are taking steps to ensure that only highly qualified teachers are teaching students in their area of expertise. To be highly qualified under NCSC, also known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (SEES), a teacher must have: 1 .At least a bachelors degree; 2. And Full state certification; 3. And Demonstrated subject- tater competency in the core academic subjects assigned. (Association of Texas Professional Educators [TAPE], 201 0, 1) This means that thanks to NCSC, No Child Left Behind, the problem of poor teachers is being addressed. A weeding out of poor teachers has begun. Still, long time teachers, already hired, are grandfathered into teaching positions. Some of those teachers could be a source of the problem. Long time teachers can develop relationships with district leadership through long time interactions.Sometimes, though teacher skills may fall, corrective action may not occur. Unless reasons arise to call in suspicion of negligence of duty, veteran teachers may be beyond reproach. After all, if a teacher has survived in a district for over twenty years, administration would have to be very poorly skilled not to have noticed shortcomings. That could be a fact that few districts would want exposed. Therefore, a teacher may be put into classes with very strong students that require little by way of innovation and challenge.A gifted and talented environment could be an example of such an easy to teach environment. Educators should celebrate the release of decree teachers provided that due process is followed. Job security should not be threatened without due process. It would be a nightmare for the profession and for the communities that teachers serve should a educational witch hunt occur. If poor teachers are identified, provided plans and training for strengthening their skills, along with adequate time to do so, then the ultimate product should be a skilled professional educator.If the teacher cannot meet the set state standards, under due process conditions, then that teacher should be removed from their position. Poor teachers give the reversion a bad name. Parents need to trust our abilities to prepare their children and safeguard their well being. The few that fail to do so hurt the many that strive for excellence everyday. Parents usually remember and discuss the poor experiences they have with poor teachers more often than they would do with the really skilled teachers. Tenure should protect teachers that are behind in skills, as long as ongoing training and evaluations are being provided. For instance, a thirty year veteran may not be very strong in computers. His/Her skills might be behind today, but that doesnt serially mean the teacher isnt willing to learn skills to become a progressively competent teacher. Once upon a time, the same teacher might have been considered a master teacher in his/her day. Reasonable and decade Tate time should be given for the teacher to obtain training and mentoring so that they can strengthen weak areas.School districts should strive to select qualified applicants for hiring. Every principal wants to have the very best staff on board to help meet campus goals. School hiring committees should be staffed by knowledgeable and competent members. Members should be empowered to make informed decisions, and to serve the process with understanding that the procedure demands their input and questions. Schools should be selective and should follow up with effective observations to ensure that first impressions were substantiated.Highly qualified personnel should be sought and trained to field only the best staff. Administrators should be well trained in appraisal. The administrator should have picked a very strong mentor to assist the weak teacher. Follow up observations and casual questioning of students and parents for quality intro purposes should professionally be considered. The problem with the critique of tenure is that it fails to consider the entire package of compensation that academic faculty receive, or fail to receive, relative to the packages these faculty could earn in other occupations. Many faculty have the ability to succeed in jobs that have substantially higher corn pension than academia. This is most obvious in fields like law, economics, business, engineering, and the sciences, but it applies in a range of fields. Indeed, many faculty who are denied tenure subsequently find higher paying jobs outside f academia. (Minor, 2001) The tenure system provides higher job security than would a for-profit company, but it provides far less in monetary compensation.The major problem with the standard critique of tenure is that while tenure guarantees a lifetime job under most circumstances, it does not guarantee a lifetime of salary increases. The general interpretation of tenure holds that universities cannot fire tenured faculty except for gross dereliction of duty and cannot cut their nominal salaries (otherwise, tenure would be meaningless). (Minor) Tenured faculty who do not publish, who teach poorly, r who fail to perform adequate service will find their nominal salaries held constant while their real salaries fall year after year. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been on a campaign to make sure that the granting of tenure in New York City public schools is not the pedagogical equivalent of social promotion?something conferred simply for showing up (Teacher tenure tumbles, 2008) Some opposition to tenure, is that without tenure, teachers would be on their toes, at all times. Teachers would not slack off after receiving tenure and become lax. Some schools feel that prior to receiving inure, teachers are friendly, and say hello often. They dress for success, and are always at their best. They attend school functions, and are available to students for extra help.Arguments state that upon receiving tenure, many teachers stop attending school functions, and do not make as much time for the students. Others will begin to dress down, and show up late to meetings. Some schools also would consider the financial savings. Schools would not need promotion and tenure committees. Administrators wouldnt have to read all those books and articles in order to make judgments. Life would be lean and simple. Also, without tenure, there could be more building change. Also, as in any other profession, there are teachers who have made a poor career choice. They should not be given tenure simply because they show up for work. (Checker, 2000) If tenure did not exist, the institution would have to pay higher salaries to compensate for the lack Of security. Without higher salaries, faculty members, particularly those in the high-demand fields of science and engineering, would be tempted to go elsewhere to government, industry, or other academic institutions. (Raise 1999) Without tenure, political sews would play a large role in who is retained and who is not. Many would also believe faculty need job security to encourage risk-taking in teaching and research.Tenure is a legal right given by the state; local boards cannot lengthen the three-year requirement. This fact is another benefit. Another benefit of the tenure law is, you do not have to sign a contract to be tenured; you operate under an implied contract from the school board, and it is in effect as long as you remain employed. The principal can write a letter recommending tenure after the three years. It seems that any other process would leave searchers out to interpretation by others or in danger of losing their jobs with shorter contracts.There is no cost too great for insuring our children are in a safe, secure, nurturing environment. We cannot expect our children to be able to adapt to change as readily as an adult working in corporate America. Therefore, the cost is well worth having experienced, challenging individuals in our schools protecting and nurturing our children. When it comes to settling the squabble over teacher tenure, there is no clear winner. Abolishing tenure doesnt address problems of underfeeding, overcrowding, r improving students home environments (Stephen, 2008).However, -despite more than a century of social progress, the need to protect teachers from the whims (or the tyranny) of the community remains as important as ever (ibid). As education reform in other areas continues, perhaps there may be improvements to make regarding the technical aspects of tenure.. . (Sarasota, 2000) that could provide a satisfactory compromise for both sides of the issue. And both sides should always keep the students best interests in mind because they are the future and are deserving of the best public education that can be offered.