An Argument For Teacher Tenure
An Argument For Teacher Tenure
by Randy Turner
In about a month the 2013 legislative session will be upon us and the attacks on teacher tenure will begin anew.
One of the enduring myths propagated by the so-called reformers is that there are thousands upon thousands of bad teachers in this country who cannot be fired because they have been given tenure and their jobs are being protected at the expense of brilliant young teachers who could have saved education.
To back up this allegation, we always see the same anecdotal evidence trotted out. It’s either the young teacher of the year who is let go because of rules requiring that veteran teachers be retained, or it is the veteran teacher who has committed all kinds of atrocities that should disqualify him from ever setting foot in a classroom again who cannot be dislodged.
No one ever questions just how meaningless most “teacher of the year” awards are and how many times the
In about a month the 2013 legislative session will be upon us and the attacks on teacher tenure will begin anew.
One of the enduring myths propagated by the so-called reformers is that there are thousands upon thousands of bad teachers in this country who cannot be fired because they have been given tenure and their jobs are being protected at the expense of brilliant young teachers who could have saved education.
To back up this allegation, we always see the same anecdotal evidence trotted out. It’s either the young teacher of the year who is let go because of rules requiring that veteran teachers be retained, or it is the veteran teacher who has committed all kinds of atrocities that should disqualify him from ever setting foot in a classroom again who cannot be dislodged.
No one ever questions just how meaningless most “teacher of the year” awards are and how many times the