Teacher Tenure is a Possible 2016 Presidential Issue
GOPers might be divided on Common Core, but at least they seem united in their opposition to teacher tenure laws.
From Fox News:
On heels of big lawsuits, teacher tenure looms as a likely 2016 presidential issue
Teacher tenure looms as a likely hot-button issue in the 2016 presidential races, with several potential GOP candidates in clear opposition to the policy and Democrats largely silent as they try to balance calls for reform and much-needed teachers union support.
Former Florida GOP Gov. Jeb Bush, a favorite among the Republican establishment for the White House job, recently voiced his support for a class-action lawsuit in New York against teacher tenure that was filed Monday. Weeks earlier, a California judge, in a similar case, struck down tenure for the state’s public school teachers, ruling in favor of the plaintiffs.
“There will be no equality in education until we transition to a system that prioritizes academic achievement for children over job security for adults,” Bush, chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, said after the New York suit was filed.
The suit essentially challenges the three big concerns about tenure: school districts having to lay off the most senior teachers last, tenure eligibility after only three years and a system that makes firing a teacher nearly impossible.
“When ineffective teachers are allowed to remain in the classroom because of union protections and antiquated laws, it is not only a disservice to students but also to the many wonderful teachers dedicated to excellence in education,” Bush said.
On heels of big lawsuits, teacher tenure looms as a likely 2016 presidential issue (Fox News)
Comments
Someone one FoxNews whose username is Kat1031 wrote the following post in response to that article, and as a former teacher it also pretty much encapsualtes my views, so I will quote it in full:
“I’m a conservative who typically votes for GOP candidates. I also work in public schools. This is a foolish notion, despite how clear cut many seem to think it is.
“Teachers have a very rough job. People do not realize what it is like to be in charge of 25 to 30 kids all day, every day. But that is beside the point. Teachers unions are always liberal, and they make it clear you must support Democrat candidates. We may be gaining some support for GOP candidates in light of the blundering and horrible current presidency, but we will lose it if this movement takes hold.
“Public schools are fear-filled places these days. Thanks to No Child Left Untested, it has become a relentless slog through constant testing and constant pressure from above to lift test scores. Honestly I don’t think anyone would care if numbers were altered, the pressure is so high and the penalties so harsh if they don’t.
“But nobody, NOBODY, looks at the real reason teachers are now being blamed for low test scores and lack of academic progress, and it is one reason. In socioeconomically challenged areas (lots of poor minorities) education is NOT a priority in most families. I have worked in public schools where the administrators were all black and latino, the staff is mostly latino, and the students (families) were mostly latino and black. You couldn’t GET families to come in. Families in our area are struggling with drugs, alcohol, personal situations, jail, and so on. People are struggling to get by. They often don’t realize how important education IS for their child. Kids are up til all hours and come to school exhausted. Almost one third of the children in one class I know had at least one parent in jail. Social problems, domestic violence, etc., are all routine for our kids.”
“But nobody, EVER, mentions this as an academic factor. These kids test scores are compared with the affluent and well balanced communities nearby and the KIDS ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE THE SAME TEST SCORES, which is ludicrous. But it’s politically incorrect, so nobody says it, questions it, or mentions it. It’s like we are all supposed to pretend, but hey, flog the teachers over it!
“Teaching has become a bit of a nightmare. The kids are typically lovely, and it is rewarding and wonderful to work with them. But teaching has become nothing but stress and the constant pressure to elevate kid’s scores on arbitrary tests.
“You are completely wrong in this article. Teachers can be fired before they are tenured for any reason whatsoever. They can say “you don’t FIT”, and you can be fired. So they should support and help teachers to be better teachers. How about cut down on the ridiculous paperwork teachers have to do? Let them teach!! Stop controlling everything. Teachers, through Common Core, are becoming robots, teaching what pap they are forced to cover.
“Don’t be surprised when the quality of teachers plummets. You can’t dump all this stress on teachers and then blame them for the academic “failure” of students today. All the social problems come right into the classroom with the students and it is insane to blame teachers for them. The GOP would do well to figure out ways to SUPPORT these beleaguered teachers rather than take the losing and absurd side of harassing them and making life harder for them. This is NOT a winning strategy!!!!”
I agree with your views (expressed via this comment), filiusdextris. Yet, this comment has nothing to do with teacher tenure, which is the focus of my post. I think any rational person who believes in free markets and competition agrees that teacher tenure at the elementary/middle/high school levels are antithetical to success. Very few other professions get tenure; the most successful — physicians, Wall St. types, etc. — are under extreme pressure to perform and are compensated as such. I agree that public school teachers are loaded with too much paper work that saps away from time and energy that should go into teaching. How do I know? I graduated public high school just last year and witnessed all of this myself. But I also saw how so many teachers were unmotivated to teach and flat-out did not teach during class, or demonstrated extremely inappropriate behavior. Tenure laws protected them from firing. Ridding of oppressive teacher tenure laws is a winning strategy, because any parent interested in his or her child’s public school education, once his or her child has suffered under a should-be-fired teacher, will agree with this cause. Furthermore, many (not all of course) GOPers do support beleaguered teachers by opposing teachers unions and working to restore control of education to good teachers and most importantly to parents. Ask yourself who creates the overload of paperwork? Bureaucracy, state governments, & the Dept. of Education — all of which teacher unions support and lobby for.