I am sad to foul my lovely blog with such negativity, but here it goes..
The educational tenure system is absolutely infuriating and anti-productive. When GOOD teachers loose out because another CRAPPIER teacher has tenure, then our schools are doomed to fail. Not to even mention all the other reasons public education is doomed to fail, but when people who actually DO their jobs are cut just because someone else has "tenure" then the tenure system is actually hurting the school system. Just today I found out that two of my very good friends are losing their jobs due to the ridiculous and heretofore un-rationalized budget cuts in our county. They are both in their first year in their positions, but they are actually doing their jobs WELL and with responsibility. Their co-workers (by all accounts) do NOT do their jobs well, doing only what's necessary to get by or do it with such a terrible attitude as to render their services virtually non-existent. The one chance that a principal would have to get rid of them is gone simply because they are tenured. In any other business situation, someone doing such a terrible job would surely be let go. Maybe not. I don't know. But when you take away the ability to cut out such counterproductivity, surely it's a recipe for disaster. Tenure surely has its positives, but this is ridiculous. Something has to change...but how?
2 comments:
Emily...I was trying to leave a comment...and I think I might have sent you LOTS of emails! :-) Anyhow...a brief response to Tenure....In my system, principal's are now doing "walk-throughs." The principal enters classroom at random for five minutes and documents his observation in a designated "walk-through" form. Principals are required to complete at least three random "walk-throughs;" however, they may do as many as they wish. If a particular teacher (with tenure) is a problem, the principal can continue to "walk-through" documenting the poor behavior/work ethic/classroom management etc. each time. This is permanent record information and can be used to release the teacher. Tenure is an excellent way to ensure that politics won't 'cause you to loose your job...e.g. new principal comes to my school and wants his best friend to be the music teacher; however, I really think it is the principal's responsibility to make sure that his vine is producing fruit. The principal must create a climate keeps teacher's on their toes. Teacher's deserve the peace of mind that comes with job security, but the principal also must hold teacher's accountable.--Anyhow...that's my response to ...."something has to change...but how?" :-)
I think there are a lot of good reasons to have a tenure-like system, because as we all know, nepotism is rampant in most institutions--especially education and government. I think the walk-through sounds like a great idea. The trouble is when principals who have staff members who are problems but just won't take the time to document their lackluster work. I think this is my problem with the system. I think seniority should count for something, but when there is no documentation to justify releasing a tenured person over a better non-tenured person, therein lies the problem. Thanks for reading my rant. You're my first commenter!
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