The Tenure Debate Heats Up

A study completed three years ago indicated that by “replacing a poor teacher with an excellent one could increase students’ lifetime earnings by $250,000 per classroom.” Armed with ammunition like that, it is easy to see that there is a growing list of advocates who would like to see an end to teacher tenure in America’s public schools. With the jaw-dropping decision in Los Angeles by Judge Rolf True, California’s teacher tenure laws, in place for decades, were struck down. (See Vergara v. California)  The judge reasoned that having poor teachers in the classroom were detrimental to students’ education and thus unconstitutional. At the forefront of this effort that is gaining traction nationally, is David Welch who developed an interest through his involvement in the NewSchoolsVenture Fund.

It is true that removing a tenured teacher from the classroom is a costly and time- consuming undertaking. It is also true that much of the original intent of teacher tenure laws was to protect teachers from indiscriminate dismissal for political or other reasons and was inherent in the collective bargaining process.

The question that has been raised for many years and is still the overriding issue is what makes an excellent teacher? Is it content knowledge or is it compassion? Is it classroom management skills or is it student performance on standardized test? With the imposition of Common Core State Standards which are linked to state curriculums and standardized tests, it seems that the federal government along with other education reformer have the selected the last question as the one top answer.

The American Federation of Teachers, a broad umbrella organization for many teachers unions across the country has yet to be heard.  AFT President Randi Weingarten indicated that the Vergara court decision would be appealed. There is a great deal at stake with this issue. Has teacher tenure become obsolete? Have financial juggernauts like David Welch and Bill Gates become the new faces of the direction of public education in America? Don’t look for this issue to go away any time soon and be aware of the possibility that this may become a campaign issue in the 2016 Presidential Election.

See the article “Taking on Teacher Tenure” in Time Magazine, November 3^rd issue pp.36-39.

c.2014 J. Margolis