A Changing Academic Landscape
With the Rise of Online Schools Comes the Fall of Teacher Tenure
Guest post by Brianna Meiers
Brianna Meiers writes around the web about education policy, and has recently authored a teacher education informational directory for those looking to break into the profession.
The tenure system, which has rewarded teachers with the benefits of status, academic freedom, and lifetime job security since the early 20th century, has recently come under attack. Governing boards of some college systems and school districts have called for abolishing the tenure system altogether.
The origin of the tenure system can be traced to the late 19th century. It roughly coincided with World War I and the suffragist movement. According to an article in Time magazine titled “A Brief History of Tenure,” tenure was the outcome of a movement that erupted during the late 19th century to demand protection from parents and administrators who would dictate lesson plans. In 1887 the first ever conference of the National Educator’s Association was held in Chicago. About 10,000 teachers who attended the conference discussed the topic of “teacher’s tenure,” and in 1910 New Jersey became the first state to pass tenure legislation, which granted fair-dismissal rights to college professors. During the suffrage movement of 1920 the rights were extended to elementary and high school teachers to protect teachers from getting fired for reasons that had no relation to their work like race, marriage, and pregnancy..
Tenure assures a sort of job security to teachers as it rests on the assumption of continuous employment. Teachers who are awarded tenure are entitled to due process in case they get dismissed or their contracts aren’t renewed. Tenure vests on the teachers the right to a hearing, which means the school district is bound to prove that the teacher failed a specific standard laid down for all the teachers. Roughly 2.3 million public school teachers in the U.S have tenure.
Not every teacher is awarded tenure. Most of the states and the school districts outline a probationary period for the teachers. During this time, teachers are required to show competence and prove their teaching skills. The reasons why a tenured teacher can be dismissed vary from state to state and sometimes among different school districts within the same state. Some of the common reasons for dismissal of tenured teachers are:
Critics opine that tenure is an outdated idea. While talking to National Public Radio in 2010, Sandy Kress, who helped write federal and state education laws as an adviser to George W. Bush and other policymakers said, "Tenure has proved to be just a horrible barrier to getting rid of that small percentage of teachers who are just not effective."
The opponents also point out that tenure system is incompatible with the modern education system. In the words of Cathy Trower, director of the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, “the tenure system was very good in its day, and it’s very disciplinary-focused. Nonetheless, today’s academic climate of cutting-edge, cooperative research compels professors to keep up with current practice, while tenure largely protects those whose best efforts lie in the past.”
Working on the premise that the tenure system is outdated, legislators in New Jersey recently passed the Tenure Reform Bill, signed into law by Governor Chris Christie in August 2012. The bill aims to reform the teacher tenure law and ties teacher job security to student performance. Governor Christie called it an important step that would lead to further reforms focused on the students by ending “the flawed practice of Last In, First Out and supporting both differentiated pay and banning forced placements of teachers.”
Tenure reform is being taken up in many states. According to an article on NPR.org, in 2010, Washington State extended the number of years teachers have to wait before becoming eligible for tenure. However despite the national emphasis on teacher effectiveness, the Legislation requiring quality-based layoffs is still pending in Washington.
In a nutshell, the tenure reform effort, which has gathered steam in recent years, is an important step towards achieving meaningful education reform. Educating young students has long-term implications for the future workforce and the strength of a nation’s economy. It is therefore imperative that states examine all the possibilities and alternatives, when they explore modifications to their education policy.
Guest post by Brianna Meiers
Brianna Meiers writes around the web about education policy, and has recently authored a teacher education informational directory for those looking to break into the profession.
The tenure system, which has rewarded teachers with the benefits of status, academic freedom, and lifetime job security since the early 20th century, has recently come under attack. Governing boards of some college systems and school districts have called for abolishing the tenure system altogether.
The origin of the tenure system can be traced to the late 19th century. It roughly coincided with World War I and the suffragist movement. According to an article in Time magazine titled “A Brief History of Tenure,” tenure was the outcome of a movement that erupted during the late 19th century to demand protection from parents and administrators who would dictate lesson plans. In 1887 the first ever conference of the National Educator’s Association was held in Chicago. About 10,000 teachers who attended the conference discussed the topic of “teacher’s tenure,” and in 1910 New Jersey became the first state to pass tenure legislation, which granted fair-dismissal rights to college professors. During the suffrage movement of 1920 the rights were extended to elementary and high school teachers to protect teachers from getting fired for reasons that had no relation to their work like race, marriage, and pregnancy..
Tenure assures a sort of job security to teachers as it rests on the assumption of continuous employment. Teachers who are awarded tenure are entitled to due process in case they get dismissed or their contracts aren’t renewed. Tenure vests on the teachers the right to a hearing, which means the school district is bound to prove that the teacher failed a specific standard laid down for all the teachers. Roughly 2.3 million public school teachers in the U.S have tenure.
Not every teacher is awarded tenure. Most of the states and the school districts outline a probationary period for the teachers. During this time, teachers are required to show competence and prove their teaching skills. The reasons why a tenured teacher can be dismissed vary from state to state and sometimes among different school districts within the same state. Some of the common reasons for dismissal of tenured teachers are:
- Moral misconduct
- Incompetence based on state educational guidelines
- Insubordination
- Disability that prevents effective teaching
Critics opine that tenure is an outdated idea. While talking to National Public Radio in 2010, Sandy Kress, who helped write federal and state education laws as an adviser to George W. Bush and other policymakers said, "Tenure has proved to be just a horrible barrier to getting rid of that small percentage of teachers who are just not effective."
The opponents also point out that tenure system is incompatible with the modern education system. In the words of Cathy Trower, director of the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, “the tenure system was very good in its day, and it’s very disciplinary-focused. Nonetheless, today’s academic climate of cutting-edge, cooperative research compels professors to keep up with current practice, while tenure largely protects those whose best efforts lie in the past.”
Working on the premise that the tenure system is outdated, legislators in New Jersey recently passed the Tenure Reform Bill, signed into law by Governor Chris Christie in August 2012. The bill aims to reform the teacher tenure law and ties teacher job security to student performance. Governor Christie called it an important step that would lead to further reforms focused on the students by ending “the flawed practice of Last In, First Out and supporting both differentiated pay and banning forced placements of teachers.”
Tenure reform is being taken up in many states. According to an article on NPR.org, in 2010, Washington State extended the number of years teachers have to wait before becoming eligible for tenure. However despite the national emphasis on teacher effectiveness, the Legislation requiring quality-based layoffs is still pending in Washington.
In a nutshell, the tenure reform effort, which has gathered steam in recent years, is an important step towards achieving meaningful education reform. Educating young students has long-term implications for the future workforce and the strength of a nation’s economy. It is therefore imperative that states examine all the possibilities and alternatives, when they explore modifications to their education policy.
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