Rhee Challenges 'Criminal Standard' of Teacher Tenure
Former D.C. schools chief tells Senate panel that 'the system' fails instructors
Michelle Rhee | Photo Gray RohrerHide
"It's not due process. In practice, the problem with tenure is that it makes it impossible to remove bad teachers," said Rhee, the former chancellor of schools in Washington, D.C.
"We have created these bureaucracies to the point that you must meet a criminal standard to fire a teacher," Rhee told the Senate Committee on Education PreK-12, chaired by Sen. Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville.
Teacher tenure remains a lightning rod at the Legislature, which last year passed a bill abolishing it in Florida's K-12 system. After then-Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed the measure at the urging of the Florida
