The debate over tenure is heating up. Our own JSA is voicing their support for reforming tenure by supporting Students Transforming Education, an organization striving to collect 10,000 student signatures in support of reforming tenure.
Students Transforming Education identifies three main problems with tenure: firing a teacher who has tenure is lengthy and costly, teachers aren’t evaluated enough and underperforming teachers are transferred from school to school.
What tenure means for you and me is that a less experienced, first-rate teacher without tenure would be fired before an unsatisfactory, veteran teacher. Job performance, not years of service, should be the deciding factor for employment.
Administators should evaluate and obersve teachers that are found lacking in the classroom on a regular basis and ask about their teaching strategies until they feel the pressure to change.
And if teachers are not willing to meet the expectations within a reasonable amount of time, then schools should be able to fire them, even if they have been teaching for fifteen years. Mediocre teachers should not be kept on staff. End of story.
Also, instead of being given tenure after two years of teaching, the waiting period should be extended to five years. Tenure often lifts the pressure from teachers’ shoulders, and teaching becomes like an old relationship. It’s easy to take it for granted, instead of putting in the work to keep it fresh.
After tenure, some teachers become complacent and believe there is no reason to keep improving, so there is no more motivation to work hard.
Before teachers get upset reading this, most of our teachers have nothing to worry about. The majority of teachers prove themselves daily by working hard and bringing their expertise and enthusiasm to the classroom; they don’t need to hide behind tenure.
JSA hopes to bring more attention to the issue of tenure, encourages students to get more involved and welcomes new JSA members. In fact, JSA held a debate on tenure on Feb. 25 in Rm. 502, which welcomed teachers and students to voice their opinions.
If you are interested in the subject, keep your ears open for what JSA is up to, visit studentstransforminged.org to find out how to sign the petition to reform tenure or do your own research; get involved.