Kudos to the California judge who declared that the laws governing the hiring, firing and tenure of teachers in that state are unconstitutional. It is a system that has protected grossly ineffective teachers because getting rid of them is such an incredibly long and drawn out process. In the best case scenarios, it takes a minimum of two years to get rid of incompetent teachers, but in most cases, it takes much longer than that.
Check out the article below.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/12/opinion/in-california-a-judge-takes-on-teacher-tenure.html?hp&rref=opinion
This is my gripe with the teachers' union.
If they are fighting for more pay, I would be right there with them. But when they are protecting teachers that they wouldn't allow their kids near, then I had a problem with that.
I know about this issue first hand.
In my first year as principal, there was a teacher on my staff who was so inept, it was criminal that she was allowed on a school campus, let alone in a classroom teaching kids.
But the kicker was, she had been teaching for 18 years (!!!) at this point. Believe me when I say she didn't just get incompetent in her later years. You see, I was a substitute teacher at this school and knew her back in the day. Seven years later, I returned to the same school as principal.
In order to fire a poor teacher, you have to document, document, document. It's tedious and time consuming, but it was a task I was willing to take on. Armed with several years of write ups from previous administrators who had started the dismissal process, these was compiled and treated as one year. I was then charged with consistently documenting her actions that year, in order to move forward with dismissal. With the extraordinary help from my supervisors, and the attorney for the district, we were successful in removing this teacher my first year as principal.
Thank God, we were triumphant, but it just shouldn't be this hard.
Then, there is the other issue with the new teachers, who are last hired, but are first fired each year. I had some amazing brand new teachers who brought energy, enthusiasm, and creativity to the job, but each year they were released. Some found jobs at other schools. Others were discouraged and went to other districts, and many just left the profession altogether.
In the four years at my last principalship at one of the poorest schools in Sacramento, I lost half of my staff each year. It was virtually impossible to move forward with school-wide initiatives because staff continuity was non-existent.
That was criminal, too.
So, for all those folks who would defend the current practices tooth and nail, shame on them for protecting teachers that they wouldn't dare let teach their own kids.
If they're not good enough for their kids, they shouldn't be good enough for any kid.
So, right on Judge.
I hope this is the beginning of a tidal wave of change in education as we know it.
Check out the article below.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/12/opinion/in-california-a-judge-takes-on-teacher-tenure.html?hp&rref=opinion
This is my gripe with the teachers' union.
If they are fighting for more pay, I would be right there with them. But when they are protecting teachers that they wouldn't allow their kids near, then I had a problem with that.
I know about this issue first hand.
In my first year as principal, there was a teacher on my staff who was so inept, it was criminal that she was allowed on a school campus, let alone in a classroom teaching kids.
But the kicker was, she had been teaching for 18 years (!!!) at this point. Believe me when I say she didn't just get incompetent in her later years. You see, I was a substitute teacher at this school and knew her back in the day. Seven years later, I returned to the same school as principal.
In order to fire a poor teacher, you have to document, document, document. It's tedious and time consuming, but it was a task I was willing to take on. Armed with several years of write ups from previous administrators who had started the dismissal process, these was compiled and treated as one year. I was then charged with consistently documenting her actions that year, in order to move forward with dismissal. With the extraordinary help from my supervisors, and the attorney for the district, we were successful in removing this teacher my first year as principal.
Thank God, we were triumphant, but it just shouldn't be this hard.
Then, there is the other issue with the new teachers, who are last hired, but are first fired each year. I had some amazing brand new teachers who brought energy, enthusiasm, and creativity to the job, but each year they were released. Some found jobs at other schools. Others were discouraged and went to other districts, and many just left the profession altogether.
In the four years at my last principalship at one of the poorest schools in Sacramento, I lost half of my staff each year. It was virtually impossible to move forward with school-wide initiatives because staff continuity was non-existent.
That was criminal, too.
So, for all those folks who would defend the current practices tooth and nail, shame on them for protecting teachers that they wouldn't dare let teach their own kids.
If they're not good enough for their kids, they shouldn't be good enough for any kid.
So, right on Judge.
I hope this is the beginning of a tidal wave of change in education as we know it.
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