In the December 6, 2010 issue of Newsweek, the seemingly and suddenly expert on education Bill Gates wowed us with his convoluted expertise on education. Gates in an article written by "journalist" Jonathan Alter lamented that teacher tenure is a "quality killer." Quality how so Bill? I think it is time that Bill, and others of his ilk get, pardon the pun, schooled on tenure.
Tenure is no way, no how, guarantees a job for life. Only justices on the Supreme Court are guaranteed such a service. What tenure does guarantee is that a teacher, is protected against the whims of a principal, and the promise of due processes. I would hazard to guess that as an upstanding American and a supporter of the United States Constitution, Bill would be at the forefront of protecting the rights of not only teachers, but also all hard working Americans.
Tenure was enacted to prevent a teacher from being terminated for being pregnant (in fact I knew of a principal who bemoaned a female colleague once with the comment, "why didn't you use a