What Teacher tenure is and what it is not (principal, educator, superintendent)

[nana053]

What Teacher Tenure Is

If you thought tenured teachers couldn’t lose their jobs, you’re not alone — it’s a common misunderstanding, but that doesn’t make it accurate. Tenure does not guarantee teachers a job, but instead mandates that due process be followed before tenured teachers are dismissed.

And teachers who receive tenure often endure a marathon process before it is granted. At most jobs outside the field of education, a newly hired employee may be considered probationary for six months, or even a year.

When teachers are hired, it is common for them to serve as untenured, probationary employees for three or four years. At this point they can be — and often are — dismissed for any reason whatsoever. That time period also gives school administrators an extended opportunity to evaluate a teacher before determining whether or not the school district, at its discretion, should grant the teacher tenure.

Tenure is not handed out to every teacher who walks through the door.

Much of the public debate over tenure has focused on whether it is possible to fire tenured teachers who are no longer making the grade. The fact is, contracts between unions and school districts in no way forbid the firing of tenured teachers.

[zthatzmanz28]

GREAT!! IT means a teacher cannot be dismissed simply because they annoy the admin or ruffled the superintendent by giving the super's child the grade they deserve and not an "A"

[germaine2626]

Thank you for clarifying tenure. You are correct that many people don't understand it or simple assume that teachers with tenure can't be fired.


I'll always remember one of my professors in Educational Administration telling us that, " Any principal can fire ANY teacher, if they are willing to put in the time and energy to do it." He then proceeded to tell us (future principals & administrators) exactly how to fire "any teacher". In a nut shell, very frequent observations and extremely detailed record keeping of every mistake that the teacher makes. He explained that even an outstanding, award winning educator would be worn down by excessive observations and page after page of detailed mistakes that the teacher made would be extremely damning information. He said that he was using it as an example of what we shouldn't do as administrators but I think a lot of current principals missed that part of the lecture.

[ambient]

I work in the private sector, and I get no "tenure". Every day is "probationary" in the sense that my employment is at will and can be terminated by my employer at any time for any legal reason and with no advance warning. That applies if I worked there for four days or forty years. Just sayin...

[NJBest]

Originally Posted by ambient

I work in the private sector, and I get no "tenure". Every day is "probationary" in the sense that my employment is at will and can be terminated by my employer at any time for any legal reason and with no advance warning. That applies if I worked there for four days or forty years. Just sayin...

And you're a teacher? That's horrible! You would think that as a teacher you would be against such practices.

Anyways, while tenure is critically important, I believe it can only be effective at the college level and for some high school teachers.

[marigolds6]

Originally Posted by ambient

I work in the private sector, and I get no "tenure". Every day is "probationary" in the sense that my employment is at will and can be terminated by my employer at any time for any legal reason and with no advance warning. That applies if I worked there for four days or forty years. Just sayin...

No, you are not probationary.
If you are fired, you can sue over wrongful termination, you can collect unemployment, you can return to work for that employer some day. Untenured teachers who are not renewed cannot do any of these.
You also don't have to wait 3 months to a year before you can find a new job and you can work for another employer in the same industry and same area. With the way non-renewals work, untenured teachers have to leave the area and must wait until the next school year to find a job.
In some states, (like Oregon), they have to leave the state. They can no longer teach in that state if they lose their probationary job.

[jackmccullough]

It's good to see a post that refutes the conservatives' lies about tenure.

[loloroj]

Originally Posted by ambient

I work in the private sector, and I get no "tenure". Every day is "probationary" in the sense that my employment is at will and can be terminated by my employer at any time for any legal reason and with no advance warning. That applies if I worked there for four days or forty years. Just sayin...

Great aint it?

[crankywithakeyboard]

The myths about tenure are not misunderstandings. They are lies spread by anti-education politicians.

Oops! Jack beat me to it!

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by ambient

I work in the private sector, and I get no "tenure". Every day is "probationary" in the sense that my employment is at will and can be terminated by my employer at any time for any legal reason and with no advance warning. That applies if I worked there for four days or forty years. Just sayin...

Even in at at-will state, there is still due process that is followed. Your boss really can't come up to you tomorrow and tell you to pack your bags...well, he could, but you would also have grounds for a lawsuit--which has been tested time and time again in the courts, even in an at-will state. This is the same protection tenure gives to teachers.