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Teacher Tenure Portfolio

This document discusses the issue of teacher tenure in public school systems. It presents perspectives from both sides of the debate. Teacher tenure provides job security but makes it difficult to fire underperforming teachers. While tenure protects experienced teachers from being replaced by less experienced and cheaper teachers, it may reduce teachers' motivation and incentives to perform well. The document also notes that removing a tenured teacher requires justification and can be very costly. Overall, the document examines the pros and cons of teacher tenure and notes there are reasonable arguments on both sides of the issue.

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141 views7 pages

Teacher Tenure Portfolio

This document discusses the issue of teacher tenure in public school systems. It presents perspectives from both sides of the debate. Teacher tenure provides job security but makes it difficult to fire underperforming teachers. While tenure protects experienced teachers from being replaced by less experienced and cheaper teachers, it may reduce teachers' motivation and incentives to perform well. The document also notes that removing a tenured teacher requires justification and can be very costly. Overall, the document examines the pros and cons of teacher tenure and notes there are reasonable arguments on both sides of the issue.

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© © All Rights Reserved
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Teaching for Tenure or

Tenure for teaching?

Brooke Moore

English 111, Semester 1, Class 1A


Mrs. Erskine
December 21, 2015

Teaching for Tenure or Tenure for Teaching?

In many public school systems, teacher tenure becomes a problem


that affects all. Whether one is the youngest teacher or the oldest, it
always ends up coming back to job security, and without tenure, the
youngest are first to go. With tenure, firing a teacher becomes very
difficult, as it requires a just cause (Teacher Tenure). Since tenure is
not a nationwide system, it is up to individual states and cities/counties
whether or not they want to establish tenure in their school district.
Teacher tenure has many pros and cons in the public schooling system
and has positive and negative effects on teachers as well. The
protection of teachers through tenure is a valid object to have in the
school system as it provides a lot of benefits for employees. However,
the school system is about working as a team so does tenure really
provide for that? On the other hand, are younger teachers being first to
go based on the system?

Tenure in most cases is a binding contract that makes dismissing


teachers very difficult by giving a sense of security. However, according to
Britannica School, when granted, it can be terminated only on grounds of
misconduct, incompetence, or misbehavior. In many countries and
similar to the judicial system, teacher tenure is granted until a specified
age or like judges is available for life, a specific amount of years, or until
retirement. Job security is a major factor in teacher tenure as it plays a
huge part in the interview process as well as actually looking for a job. To
gain tenure teachers must have a specific number of years of employment
(Christy 1). In other cases, administrators evaluate teachers before
granting tenure, and they help the teachers who need to develop more
(Teacher Tenure). People like the feeling of knowing their job is secure,
and that another individual may come and take it.

The relativity of tenure, presented by procon.org as a protection to


teachers who are easier to fire so new, more friends of principals perhaps
were available for hire. Tenure is a good way to prohibit school districts
from firing experienced teachers to hire less experienced and less
expensive teachers (Teacher Tenure). While budget cuts play a big role

Moore 2

in dismissing teachers, the schooling system still needs more funding and
that is something that will never change with or without tenure (School
Funding). According to nea.org, many parents feel inadequate funding is
the biggest problem facing our schools today. While the pros of tenure
seem to be strong, the cons may appear stronger.

Since teachers know they are less likely to lose their job with tenure,
the motivation for teaching slowly falls. Teacher tenure removes any
incentive to put in extra work or to try harder for their job. Removing a
teacher who IS guilty of wrongdoing or has poor performance becomes
costly. In the state of New York, it costs an average of $250,000 to fire a
teacher. While most school board presidents do not agree with teacher
tenure, some teachers do. The teachers who may be slacking in the
classwork, homework, or test giving enjoy tenure because of the financial
job security it supplies. The incentives continuously grow for teachers
without tenure since the economy is always on an up and down path.
However, how does this affect the students learning environment?
According to an October 1, 2006 survey, 91% of school board presidents

Moore 3

agree that teacher tenure makes firing underperforming teachers difficult


(Teacher Tenure).

While the pros and cons may outweigh each other in different
aspects, having teacher tenure, and not having teacher tenure have only a
couple similarities. Unfortunately, in each school system there are going to
be teachers who have poor performances in the classroom and poor results
on testing as well. Though sometimes the poor results are not an accurate
representation of the teacher itself, it is fair to say that sometimes they
are. According to proquest.com, teachers receive observations and
evaluations, either with or without tenure. The similarities between the
two are unfortunately small compared to the differences.

Teacher tenure and no teacher tenure play a huge part in the


educating of our future. They both equally represent the motivation of how
our public school teachers will teacher, either with incentives or without.
The reliability and responsibility on teachers is a lot of pressure and all
educators should be able to handle it. However, teachers keep their job;
the job security should not be something others fear but is positively and

Moore 4

negatively viewed. Before tenure, teachers could be fired when a new


principal comes into the school, so they could hire friends (Teacher
Tenure). After teacher tenure, teachers know they are less likely to lose
their jobs. Tenure is a topic many have different opinions on however is
does not affect each individual. Teacher tenure is a security that affects
effects all teachers.

Moore 5

Works Cited

Christy, Kathy, and Jennifer Zinth. Teaching Quality. London: H.M.S.O., 1983.
Ecs.org. Web.

"Log in." Britannica School. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.

McClatchy, Adrienne. "Teacher Tenure and Dismissal on Trial." Proquest. Tribune


Business News, 2 Apr. 2014. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.

"Public Supports Higher Pay for Teachers." Rss. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2015.\

School Funding. "Federal Stimulus Money Should Be Used for Education."


Galegroup.com. Gale Cengage Learning, 2012. Web. 2015.

"Teacher Tenure - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2015.

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