It's time to re-examine tenure
Most of us, if we’re lucky, can remember teachers who were in a league of their own in the way they inspired and mentored their students to achieve academic excellence. They made us want to learn; they made our children want to learn.
By the same token, many of us had teachers or know of teachers who were unmotivated, unprepared and even uninterested in furthering their students’ education.
Unfortunately, both kinds of teachers routinely get tenure, that coveted security blanket that gives them academic freedom and job protection as part of their union contract. Under Montana law, teachers get tenure after three years of consecutive employment by a school district.
Teacher tenure is a touchy topic. The powerful National Education Association maintains teachers can’t and won’t work without tenure. Critics argue that tenure protects substandard teachers from being fired.
Tenure doesn’t absolutely guarantee a teacher can’t be dismissed, but it makes the process of firing — often fraught with hearings and appeals — extremely difficult.
State lawmakers may get a chance during this legislative session to weigh in on the controversial contract protection that’s been a part of America’s educational system for more than a century. Rep. Derek Skees, R-Kalispell, has proposed a bill to eliminate teacher tenure. Skees’ bill, still being drafted, reportedly would apply only to new teachers.
Skees contends that good teachers don’t need protection, and that teachers should be like other workers. “If they mess up, they should be fired,” he said.
If Skees’ bill lives to see the light of day, the discussion will be lively; that much we can guarantee.
A similar bill has been proposed in Wyoming, and the Wyoming Education Association already has come out swinging, saying ending tenure would be devastating to that state’s education system.
Maybe so, but we don’t think so. There would be considerable pressure for districts to retain good teachers, and even more pressure for them to dump the bad ones. That sounds like a step in the right direction.
It may be difficult for the Montana Legislature to take the drastic step of eliminating tenure altogether, but discussion about viable reform does need to happen.
The goal should be to continuously improve the quality of our education system. Achieving that goal means greater accountability for teachers, whether it’s through more administrative oversight or more performance evaluations.
We believe the great majority of teachers in Montana enjoy their profession and do a good job of teaching our children. But teachers who don’t measure up shouldn’t be protected at the expense of quality education.