Teacher Tenure in American Public Schools

2948 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: early education essay on teacher tenure

Bad teachers poison American secondary education. Incompetent teachers frustrate and damage children. The culprit is tenure: allowing teachers to keep their jobs indefinitely, after a trial period. Historically, tenure protected teachers from being fired on whim or without reason in a volatile job climate. While this measure was once productive, tenure policies are now outdated, causing more harm than good. Tenure prevents bad teachers from getting fired, harming students and preventing school systems from maintaining the best teaching force possible.
Tenure promised job security to protect hard-working teachers. Originally implemented at the university level, tenure prevents skilled professors from being fired for simple reasons, working to make schools and education better. “The main purpose of academic tenure is to prevent the possibility of a faculty member being dismissed because what he or she teachers or writes about is considered by either administrators or some people outside the institution to be wrong or offensive” (De George). Tenure was needed in such an academically conservative society. How was a professor supposed to work in a lab and discover universal truths if his research and teaching were censored? If the professor’s job was in danger, he or she would likely work to please the administration rather than blaze new academic trails. The lack of job security instilled fear amongst professors. “One way to eliminate the fear and to reinforce the social and institutional desire for the advancement of knowledge is to guarantee that teachers and researchers do not place their jobs in jeopardy by pursuing and reporting the truth as they discover it.” (De George). Job security put professors at ease and proved the confi...

... middle of paper ...

...3. .
ProCon.org. "Teacher Tenure ProCon.org" ProCon.org. 15 Oct. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. .
Spitalli, Samuel J. "Waiting for "Superman"? - Don't Hold Your Breath." Waiting for Superman. SEEN Magazine, 20 May 2011. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. .
Winters, Marcus., and SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES. "Challenging Tenure in D.C: Rhee Tackles the Holy Grail of Teachers' Contracts." Washington Times: A.23. 2008. Print. Link http://smu.summon.serialssolutions.com/ Zhang, Xiaodong, Joseph McInerney, and Joy Frechtling. "Engaging STEM Faculty In K-20 Reforms--Implications For Policies And Practices." Science Educator 19.1 (2010): 1-13. ERIC. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. Colbeck C. (1994, November).

Show More
Related

  • The White-Collar Union Organizer and The Frustrated Labor Historians

    2269 Words  | 5 Pages

    Sloane. A. A., Witney, F. (2010). LABOR RELATIONS (13th editions). Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Teacher Wars By Helen Goldstein

    1128 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “The Teacher Wars”, by Helen Goldstein, the book focuses on the historical implications of school policy and how it affects teachers. The author goes into depth with everything from the rise of female teachers to the rise of technology in today’s teachers. As Goldstein argues teachers have an incredible ability to be able to widen equality, yet can also narrow the achievement gap that is created from birth. Her showcase of the constant strife against teachers throughout the ages gives way to multiple ways politics and decisions affect the achievement gap.

    Read More

  • A Behavioral Analysis of Teacher Expectancy Effect

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1969, Donald H. Meichenbaum, Kenneth S. Bowers, and Robert R. Ross replicated a study of the remarkable Expectancy Effect study from Robert Rosenthal. Rosenthal had conducted numerous studies with a hypothesis of confirming that one person’s expectations affect another’s behavior, which is also referred as the self-fulfilling prophecy. This hypothesis was also used by Meichenbaum, Bowers, and Ross in their experiment. Under the Behavioral Analysis of Teacher Expectancy Effect study, 14 adolescent female offenders were examined over a period of a month. Six were chosen to be identified as “late bloomers” to their four teachers. During the study, the late bloomers improved significantly higher on objective exams, but not in subjective. However, their behavior in class improved as well. The observations of the teacher-pupil interactions during the 2 week expectancy period revealed that the instructions affected significantly and increased on the positive interactions among the late bloomers. The study conducted by Meichenbaum, Bowers, and Ross has several differences than Rosenthal’s study. Firstly, they created a different study with only 14 female adolescent offenders that were institutionalized in a training school. Secondly, the training school had limited time of two weeks under expectancy effect. Therefore they were graded based on objective test, subjective tests, and measures in their behavior instead of IQ change. Thirdly, the teachers had known the students prior to the study and had created their own expectancies of the girls’ intellectual capabilities. The study may have several differences, but the general aspects of examining the behavior of teacher expectancy and the effect of the academic performance on the adolesc...

    Read More

  • Matthew Miller A New Deal For Teachers

    748 Words  | 2 Pages

    He also argues that without tenure it would to be easier to fire the 10 percent of teachers that are poor performers. I personally agree with Matthew Miller’s proposal.

    Read More

  • New and Improved Rewards at Work

    1579 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...lley, W. H., Jennings, K. M., Wolters, R. S., & Mathis, R. L. (2012). Employment & Labor Relations. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

    Read More

  • Ethical And Legal Issues In US Education

    1465 Words  | 3 Pages

    From the reading “Ethical and Legal Issues in U.S. Education”, there were three points that that surprised me. One point was that it is so surprising to me that there are so many steps that a teacher, on tenure, must go through before they get fired. It makes it so difficult to be fired and such a long process that they will never be fired unless they commit a major crime and I believe that this should change. As a teacher, we need to be at the top of our game at all times, and teachers with tenure seem like they do not always have to in order to keep their job. It is also surprising to me that student teachers do not receive the same rights as normal teachers in some states. Student teachers are practicing to become a teacher one day, and

    Read More

  • Hacker And Dreifus

    416 Words  | 1 Pages

    Professors with tenure, contend Hacker and Dreifus, are not motivated to perform well and therefore will engage the students in the way Hacker and Dreifus believe they should. To correct this, Hacker and Dreifus advocate for tenures to be replaced with multiyear contracts to ensure professors work hard for their own benefit and for the benefit of the students’. Keep the teachers in the classrooms inspiring young minds rather than taking unnecessary paid vacations, assert Hacker and Dreifus, who believe sabbaticals should be limited. Hacker and Dreifus also agree that adjunct teachers, professors who teach at a college but do not receive the same benefits as their peers who are, in fact, faculty members, should receive similar benefits. Capitalizing on adjunct teachers should be discouraged, demand the authors. Presidents of colleges, on the other hand, should receive less, more reasonable compensation for their

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Magnet School

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    It brings the four subjects of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics together by using technology to create a way to practice, solve, and apply what has been learned. It was created to provide students with education and skills that would enable them to begin working directly after high school (Introduction to Teaching, 6th Edition). STEM schools have many pros to them. STEM schools provide greater job opportunities. In The Rising Popularity of STEM: A Crossroads in Public Education or a Passing Trend, Chen writes, ".The

    Read More

  • Summary Of Getting Intentional About Stem Learning By Michael Mcewan

    663 Words  | 2 Pages

    Summary In the article “Getting Intentional About Stem Learning” by Michael MacEwan, the author discusses an afterschool program that incorporates STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Music) in their curriculum. He looks into the benefits of STEM in the curriculum and the challenges that he faces as well. MacEwan’s program serves an urban community located in a New Jersey school district. His program has more than 90 percent Latino and they are all fourth graders in the local districts elementary schools.

    Read More

  • Price of College Education

    1482 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kowal, Julie, Joe Ableidinger, and Bryan C. Hassel. "Tenure Reform Options in K–12." By Emily Hassel. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Teacher Tenure Reform. Public Impact. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. .

    Read More

  • K-12 Education in the United States

    1284 Words  | 3 Pages

    Michael, S.et al. (2008). Prospects for improving K-12 science education from the federal level. Journal of Education 69(9): 677-683.

    Read More

  • The Shortcomings of College Education

    2319 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...heir instruction, they they should stay in the field or in the labortory where their energy is concentrated. Quit wasting the time and money of the students and give college instructors the fair evaluations they deserve. Set standards for their positions and hold them accountable for skills in teaching, not just their content knowledge.

    Read More

  • Salary Schedules for Public School Teachers: Pros and Cons

    1618 Words  | 4 Pages

    Salary schedules for public school teachers are almost a common feature in public school districts. These schedules largely determine the salaries for the teachers. A single district schedule sets the pay for hundreds of thousands of teachers in thousands of schools (Besharov 1). The key factor that influences the pay for the teachers in the salary schedules include experience in terms of years and the total number of graduate course works that a teacher has completed. This paper will look at the cons and pros of the salary schedules in terms of an economic point of view.

    Read More

  • Should Teachers Get Tenure In Schools

    1057 Words  | 3 Pages

    This protects them from parents who are angry at the fact that their child received a bad grade or disciplined for misbehaving in class. Tenure also allows teachers to stand up for themselves and disagree with their boss that wants to do a certain education practices like post test scores outside the classroom without having to worry about losing their job. More importantly, it gets teachers more involved in helping administrators make decisions and contribute to the school. “Research shows that teachers who have a say in how the schools are run are more invested and stay with the school district longer.” (Kahlenberg 31). This is linked to having an increase in academic performance amongst students. Tenure also plays a significant role in schools to attract qualified applicants (Kahlenberg 33). “Terry Moe of Hoover Institutions advocated that ‘tenure is a highly valuable form of compensation to teachers’ in public schools.” (Kahlenberg 34). Jesse Rothstein is an economist at the University of California in Berkeley. “Her research showed that it is hard to recruit new teachers if a school fires the bad ones because they are skeptical of how they will perform on the job.” (Kahlenberg

    Read More

  • Comparing and Contrasting High School Teachers and College Professors

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most people see teachers and professors in the same light. They perform similar tasks. They teach. However, they are separated by a fine line of distinction. High school teachers help a student build a foundation of knowledge, and train the student to focus on learning. College professors help to shape and define a student’s foundation of knowledge, and challenge the student to cultivate the mind. High school teachers and college professors have similar goals and guidelines, but they take a differing approach to achieving the end result. The way the class is conducted, academic expectations, and view of student responsibility are a few of the contrasts between high school teachers and college professors.

    Read More

More about Teacher Tenure in American Public Schools

Open Document