Michelle Rhee, the superintendent of Washington, D.C. public schools, is attacking tenure for public school teachers in her latest attempt to reform the system in D.C. That city's school system is one of the most deprived and has some of the lowest test scores in the nation, so if serious and long-lasting change has a chance of taking root anywhere in the country, D.C. is a great place to start.
Rhee is offering significant raises or teachers who bypass the tenure system--the raises are being offered through private foundations, which is of course a benefit that many cities and towns do not have. Yet, changing the system of teacher hiring and firing (or just creating a system of firing) is a long overdue change that will benefit students tremendously. It's a "gargantuan change" according to a professor quoted in the NY Times, but it is necessary and sends a powerful message to teachers.
Rhee intends to fire ineffective teachers in D.C. regardless of tenure status in addition to changing the salary system for teachers who choose not to go on the tenure track. She does not want to abolish tenure outright, but the changes she is proposing could make tenure in D.C. almost obsolete.
In an interview, Ms. Rhee said she considered tenure outmoded.
“Tenure is the holy grail of teacher unions,” she said, “but has no educational value for kids; it only benefits adults. If we can put veteran teachers who have tenure in a position where they don’t have it, that would help us to radically increase our teacher quality. And maybe other districts would try it, too.”
And now, from the American Federation of Teachers, we are seeing a willingness to discuss issues not only of tenure but also merit pay for teachers, a key component of President-elect Obama's education plan. The union expressed an openness to discussing all sorts of issues due to the economic crisis, and this is truly an encouraging development. Randi Weingarten, the president of AFT, one of the biggest teacher unions in the country, opened the door to proposals like Ms. Rhee's, although certainly not embracing the idea of tenure removal.
On tenure, Ms. Weingarten recommended increased use of peer review, in which veteran teachers mentor less effective colleagues and even, she said, “counsel unsuccessful colleagues out of the profession.” Peer review has been used in Toledo, Ohio, and other communities for many years, and she said she hoped to “put it to work in many more.”
Changing tenure in U.S. schools all over the country would make a dramatic difference for students in terms of academic achievement and overall school success. I graduated from high school in 2006 from a mediocre school outside of Hartford, Connecticut. When my older brother passed through the same school, a long-serving teacher of Spanish, one of the subjects that is hardest to find teachers for in my area, left school mid-year due to undisclosed personal problems. She was absent for approximately 3 months, starting in March and going through the end of the year. According to him, she was never a very good teacher, but after she left the school shuffled in substitutes ad nauseum, none of whom were trained Spanish teachers or even native speakers.
Anyway, when I came to high school a few years after him, I was placed into this same woman's Spanish class my freshman year. She received no disciplinary action after leaving school for 3 months a few years prior, and this year she was still a terrible teacher who really taught us nothing. In December, she essentially disappeared, and the principal told us she was experiencing back problems, though this was rumored to be a cover for psychological concerns. In any event, she was gone for the entire 2nd half of the year, but was again allowed to return and teach students the following year.
Despite the fact that this woman twice disappeared from school for extended periods and was an ineffectual teacher even when present, the only thing the school could do was sit on their hands, due to the fact that she had tenure. It's a travesty that this woman is allowed in a classroom in the first place, but the fact that she simply cant be fired is outrageous and offensive to the students who suffered from her absence.
Teaching is by far one of the most difficult and taxing professions anywhere. Yet, in no other jobs are you given a guarantee of a job after only a few years at work. The tenure system must be reevaluated at the least, and serious reforms are needed if tenure is to survive.