Here in Alabama if a teacher teaches in a school district for a specific period of time the school system will offer them a tenured position. For those of you that do not know what that is, it is a guaranteed job, until you retire, in a nutshell. You don't have to teach anymore, you don't have to stay current with your subject, ( science, history) you just show up 9 months out of the year and complain that you "don't get paid enough to put up with this". So if you teach elementary school you tell the parents their child needs to be put on Riddlin, Adderall, etc.. If you teach high school you just tell the kids to read the chapter and answer the questions at the end. My 1st. grade teacher wanted me to go to special ed because I didn't pay attention in class .
I would like to know if tenure is common in the US or is it just here in the South. If it is common, I have an idea on how to help fix our public school system.
2006-07-13 14:29:53 · 6 answers · asked by e.sillery 5 in Education & Reference ➔ Teaching
"Tenure" is not official in my state (New Mexico).
We have a 3-tiered licensure system.
Level 1 teachers (Provisional) are fresh out of college, and are in their first 3 - 5 years of teaching. Level 1 teachers must pass a dossier review to pass to Level 2. If they haven't passed to Level 2 after their 5th year, they are banned from teaching in New Mexico.
Level 2 are Professional Teachers. Annual review of performance by their principal on 9 standards of professional performance, combined with a Professional Development Plan every year, encourage excellence. Failure to meet the 9 standards or successfully complete the annual PDP, puts the teacher on a Professional Growth Plan the following year (additional supports and training). Failing the PGP results in being fired.
Level 3 Master teachers have Master's Degrees and at least 6 years of experience in the classroom. Level 3 is an optional, leadership level in which the teacher is held to higher standards (and given higher pay). Level 3 teachers must also do annual performance reviews on the 9 standards, and an annual PDP. Failing to maintain Level 3 expectations causes the teacher to be dropped to Level 2 the following year.
Here is the site with the information about NM teaching standards:
http://www.teachnm.org/
2006-07-13 14:45:01 · answer #1 · answered by spedusource 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's in every state. A lot of people do not see the reason for teacher tenure in contracts.
If you are wanting to fix the public school system, good luck! In Texas they have been trying to fix things and nothing is happening...instead they are cutting expenses and doing away with Art & Music. Of course, they will keep football.
I am not sure why people want teacher tenure, I think it is stupid and they should still be evualated and could lose their job if they are failing people for no reason. Some teachers like to see certain students fail. I have seen it first hand when I was a substitute for 2 years.
2006-07-13 14:39:49 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Basically a nontenured teacher is what in other professions would be called a probationary employee, they want to see if the teacher is competent enough to handle the job and they are given an unusually long probationary period sometimes as long as five years. A nontenured teacher is the lowest pay scale. Gaining tenure is the equivalent of passing the bar for a lawyer, it gives them the right to teach in the district they gained the tenure in and the ability to rise in their field. It means they are no longer considered temporary workers. If they should move to another town, they would be in another district and would have to gain tenure again. Since the tenure is negotiated by elected officials and can be renegotiated again by them the federal government is constitutionally prohibited from making any laws interfering with the local democracies. Nowhere is tenure a guarantee of a lifetime job, that isn't what tenure is about.
2016-03-15 23:40:44 · answer #3 · answered by Frank 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Tenure is fairly widespread--most every state has it, but not all schools in every state.
It is not, however, a guaranteed job in perpetuity: teachers still have to teach, most are subjected to post-tenure review, most still have to earn merit pay raises by dint of quality teaching. It's not a free ride for life.
Revoking tenure is commonly cited as a way of fixing the school system, but I suspect it's a remedy that will prove tough going and have far-reaching consequences for the schools and students alike. In one state (SC, I believe), a district opted to eliminate tenure. As a result, all the best teachers were quickly poached by the other districts, which now had an enormous bargaining chip. Eliminate tenure altogether, and I fear that most teachers will seek out more secure, more rewarding work.
2006-07-13 14:43:46 · answer #4 · answered by Dr. Atrocity 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ohio no longer has tenure. We have a licensure system that requires teachers to have continuing education. That is not totally correct that once a teacher has tenure they can't lose their jobs. The purpose of tenure was to keep school districts from firing teachers once they became expensive and hiring new, young teachers to save money. Also to keep administrators from getting a teacher fired that they simiply didn't like, as well as racial issues.
2006-07-13 15:45:45 · answer #5 · answered by wolfmusic 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A teacher has to be certified to teach in the particular state he/she is in.
2006-07-13 14:41:13 · answer #6 · answered by PUtuba7 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋