The Los Angeles Superior Court has struck down teacher tenure and protections in Vergara v. California. This, by the looks of venomous comments in newspapers, seems to delight some people.
Arne Duncan, who represents the Obama administration’s viewpoint, apparently loves it too. See here.
Great isn’t it? That the President of the U.S. thinks so highly of his teachers? And that the citizens of America find delight in looking for everything teachers do wrong, rather than bolstering them as professionals?
Just remember this. Thirty years ago teacher tenure served America well. Our students were never failing like America was led to believe, and teachers, while always in need of improvement, did a fine job of educating America’s workforce.
There were many problems, albeit which included teacher performance in poor schools, but the solutions were not to de-professionalize teachers, which is what the removal of tenure does, but to instead increase professionalism.
It is interesting to me how tenure has become equated with poor teaching, when tenure, in reality, is all about teacher strength. And teacher strength means giving teachers more rights and power to make them valued.
Instead, many American’s decided to disempower teachers. How has that turned out since the the business community has worked to convert schools to private entities? Are students doing better? No. Not really.
Tell me how strong are teachers’ voices now?
Without tenure, teachers are told what to do and how to do it by those who may not even be qualified to enter a classroom.
Consider the many ed. leaders now in various states, and even America’s own Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who have little, if any, understanding of how children learn.
Credentials now don’t matter. Almost anyone can teach or lead in education as long as they know the right people.
Why tenure? Tenure provides a certain amount of attractiveness to a job that doesn’t pay as much compared to many other jobs with the same amount of professional preparation.
The argument usually goes that tenure should be eliminated and teachers should be compensated better and also get more benefits. But that will most likely never happen. If anything, without tenure, a teacher will get paid less with fewer benefits.
Look at how charter school teachers are treated if you don’t believe me.
Without tenure, teachers can be fired on a whim if they decide a particular curriculum is wrong for students and teachers will never gain the necessary experience only time provides to be truly remarkable senior teachers.
For those who hate Common Core State Standards, but also deplore teacher tenure, sorry. You can’t have it both ways. If you want teachers to speak out against standards you dislike, you need to support their professional judgement by providing them the freedom to speak out without it costing their jobs.
It is also not true that workers in other jobs don’t move up the ladder like teachers do with tenure, which is often an excuse against tenure. Many professionals follow certain protocol to move up the managerial ladder to promotion which is very much like tenure.
Teachers do not automatically get tenure either. They must earn it.
After several years of teaching, teachers go through an evaluation process by school administrators to determine how well they are performing as teachers. Usually this includes observations, good lesson plans, and decent student outcomes.
Should it take longer than two years to tenure teachers? There is a debate perhaps to be had there. But this case isn’t about extending the time to get tenure, it is more about getting rid of tenure.
Tenure does provide teachers increasingly higher salaries, not grand, but somewhat higher each year.
Teacher tenure does not provide teachers with a job for life. Teacher tenure provides teachers with due process. They can fight to keep their jobs, especially if they are fired unjustly by principals.
The mismanagement of the so-called rubber rooms in New York and the hold-up of consideration of teacher cases has always been the fault of school administrations and the union that can’t (or won’t) get their acts together.
These set-ups have also been used to generate animosity towards teachers.
It is difficult to read about the pervasive loss of tenure for teachers in California and around the country. And it is painful to watch those with billions of dollars bankroll an education agenda, not in the best interest of students.
A group called Students Matter spawned by Michelle Rhee’s Students First Foundation was behind Vergaras. Rhee has been after teacher tenure since she flew into the education scene years ago.
Some headlines say students win with this case, but how can students win when their teachers lose?
You tell me, how can creating a weak, cheap teaching workforce of those with little classroom power, ever be the voice for good instruction?
Vergara is not just a loss for students and schools, it is a loss for America.
When are the teachers themselves going to stand up and speak out about how they are being manipulated (handcuffed) by State standards and common core? When are the teachers going to get off their own asses and TELL the world what they are going through with state requirements and teaching restrictions, losing their jobs (regardless of tenure) if they speak out against common core, and federal programs that schools have been forced to accept if they want funding. They are still awfully quiet here in my town of Memphis.
Even at the college level, especially in the Sciences, Professors are no longer getting tenured… simply because they were not federally awarded Grants for Scientific research. Universities are not taking into account anything else that a professor responsibly and professionally carries out, all that matters is “the money” At the University level, when you don’t get tenured it’s Bye Bye end of job, end of career PERIOD. I’ve seen it happen right here at U of M… but are Professors SPEAKING OUT about this?
I don’t mean to pick on teachers, I know they are up against incredible odds.. um the Federal Government, and a VERY uninformed society, BUT, they have to make themselves heard.
Nancy, it’s harsh, and the whole thing infuriates me. The misunderstanding about what tenure is.. as you said Due Process…most people do not even understand what that means… you should hear what opponents are saying about even that aspect of tenure… here is a link all might learn something from…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XfPJbZJxCg
please watch and learn.
The Weingarten tenure video is an adequate explanation of tenure. However, Randi Weingarten is wiping the floor with the very teachers who pay dues. She is paid more than the POTUS, at the same time that some teachers are paid so little, they are able to be considered the working poor.
Common Core – she’s a supporter. She talks a good game when she’s in front of teachers, but her actions say more. She wants a seat at the table of the oligarchs. NO! She represents teachers who elected her. She does not represent what is good for teachers, and not for children. She needs to be voted out.
Here is what a strong union leader looks like:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/p9Fb1lsn6i4
Sandy, Thank you. I think it is interesting to pick out the good and the not-so-good stances of leaders and your point about Weingarten is spot on. Although her video is pretty good when it comes to discussing tenure.
In the Karen Lewis video, and I agree she is a strong union leader and she too makes excellent points, I noticed she hails Linda Darling-Hammond who just did an article with Randi Weingarten which many see as supportive of Common Core!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-darlinghammond/its-time-for-a-new-accoun_b_5351475.html
I still very much like what Karen Lewis says here. It’s just all the nuances and different connections these folks have with each other that sometimes confuse me.
Maybe I think too much.
Kara, You raise several interesting points. First, while teachers, in my view, should be trying to push back in every way possible, the bottom line is many of them can get fired.
Or when their school closes they might not get rehired. I believe there are teachers in Memphis who are filing a lawsuit for not being rehired after their public school closed. It will be interesting to see what happens here.
I would agree with you that universities will be next on the list to bounce tenure, if they can find a way. There is already much talk and action, as I am sure you are aware, about how to change higher education. That is material for a whole other post, I think .
Randi Weingarten makes excellent points about tenure, but as you can see by the next comment, she is not in good favor with many teachers and parents at this time. There are many reasons, but mostly it is because she has, for the most part, supported the Common Core.
Both union leaders have ties to wealthy oligarchs who don’t have the best interests of schools and teachers.
But thank you so much, for making these points, and for getting a discussion going here. I appreciate it.
I should have looked closer for a better source to explain tenure. Wouldn’t want to miss the information for dislike of the source. I know it’s not easy to stand up and speak out, especially when one fears the loss of their job.. I talk with my own husband about this, as he is a University professor and every year he sees another Scientist who has done well teaching and producing great experiments but loses their job when tenure comes up because they haven’t received federal funding. Or when they have to pass up 100’s of applications for positions because the applicant does not have a grant. This is how Universities are dealing with tenure, they let you go before you go up for tenure. I learned about Common core on my own, and continue to ask why teachers are not telling parents. Maybe I am naive, but I assume because I would support teachers, that if the community were better informed many of us would support teachers. My husband also feels that there is not much teachers can do to protect themselves from what is happening. I keep asking, if everyone would come together and stand up for their rights and their jobs wouldn’t that make the difference. He is not sure that power in numbers would do it. I will look into your information of the teachers filing the lawsuit here in Memphis. I also saw that NC has passed a bill putting and end to CC in NC. So changes can happen when people do come together.
http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2014/06/north-carolina-house-passes-bill-to-withdraw-from-common-core-78-39/
Teachers are punished for speaking up. So called ‘tenure’ is supposed to assure that we will not be fired on a whim, such as when the principal’s daughter becomes a teacher and needs a job. Any teacher who speaks up for what is right, is facing disciplinary actions that can, and probably will, result in being fired!
Actually, Kara, I think the Randi Weingarten video is an excellent explanation of what tenure is and isn’t. Everything strikes me as confusing these days because you can agree on one issue and disagree with another. Overall, teachers are not happy with either unions due to their accepting money from the Common Core enthusiasts, like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. There are a lot of mixed messages out there.
You are right about parents and teachers. That’s where it is all at.
Unfortunately, politicians and many wealthy philanthropists have interrupted to try to change things and not in a good way. They would argue with that point of course. Keep me posted about what you find with Memphis and university issues. You know a lot.
Thanks Nancy, speaking of confusing I realize too, it is up to the School Administrators to make the public aware of how they are funded and why they make the decisions that they do. It is up to the administrators to inform and involve the community. I shouldn’t just be pointing at teachers… I feel though that it is with the teachers that we have the personal relationships and I want for them to believe/know they can reach out to us for support and help in making the changes… I also know that too many parents are not paying attention unfortunately. Most people I talk to have no idea what common core is.
It’s funny, I worried that if there were responses to this conversation it would be from teachers in defense of what they are doing or what they would like to do but feel that they would be in jeopardy if they did act. I do wish the dialogue would continue here from teachers who can tell us what they are feeling, what they are doing and what they NEED from their community to help.
Thank you, Kara. I wish that too!
Sad isn’t it? I think administrators are stuck too.
I’m wondering where K-12 teachers still receive tenure? In NY State we receive due process rights after a period of 2-3 years, but only higher education professors receive tenure. Perhaps the problem is the misuse of the word tenure creating a belief teachers cannot be fired. My district fires teachers by proving they are incompetent educators every year. Gather the proof, like every other PROFESSION and remove poor instructors within due process. Otherwise, just let me teach.
Thank you. This is a very interesting point that I saw noted one other time today. I want to check into it. I appreciate your bringing it up. It raises a lot of interesting questions.
I agree that the word ‘tenure’ is misused. It simply means that we are allowed due process.