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There are good teachers and there are bad teachers, but that fact does not seem to affect the decision of who receives a pink slip. During this economic slump, jobs are insecure, and many teachers are being threatened with release or relocation. To the dismay of many students in the San Francisco Unified School District, some of their favorite teachers have received pink slips, while other less effective teachers are allowed to stay because of tenure and seniority.
Teachers gain tenure the first day of their third year teaching. The tenure policy was established in the 1900s to protect teachers from being fired as a result of discrimination against gender and political views. Although it is important to protect teachers from discrimination, the tenure policy creates another problem, as it can protect incompetent teachers from being fired, while in times of layoffs, students lose valuable, inspirational teachers who bring fresh ideas to the field.
In a fast-paced world where students’ time and energies are stretched thin to accommodate daily pressures, it is important for teachers to cultivate an interest in learning in their students. As education reformer Horace Mann once said, “A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.” The attitude of a teacher towards the students and the subject has a major effect on the effort a student makes to learn. Establishing an encouraging atmosphere in the classroom is important, but some teachers simply lack the inclination or ability to do so.
Lowell teachers are often knowledgeable in the subject they teach, but even with the required knowledge, some teachers fail to fully connect with their students. A student can not be expected to enjoy a subject, when after a year in an Advanced Placement class, the teacher does not make an effort to recognize the student by name and worse, mocks the answers given by students. Also, what are students expected to do when they are a week away from the AP exam and the class has barely covered the second World War? Wing it from 1945 to 2000? There are the rare students who are able to self-study to make up for the lack of coverage in the curriculum, but not all students can be expected to do so. The teacher’s job is to help the students through this learning process and not simply leave them to manage one fourth of the AP crunch all on their own.
Year after year students complain about the same teachers, and yet the next class continues to suffer because these teachers are tenured. Instead of depending on the longevity policy to determine who gets to stay and who does not, the opinions of students and the department staff should weigh in on the decision.
Some educators may be concerned that a few vocal students could lead to the targeting of individuals, or that student voices may not always be reliable. But students have the most direct interaction with the teachers and are the most impacted. Contrary to popular belief, most students want to learn, and their input can be depended on to support strong teachers, not just popular and easy ones. These students, who have their education and future as a priority, want to reform the teacher retention practices by utilizing their input on teachers who are the most effective in teaching the curriculum.
The school district currently has in place the Peer Assistance and Review Program, in which a teacher is selected and directed by the PAR Panel to assist and review beginning teachers or teachers who are in need of improvement, according to the Contract between San Francisco Unified School District And United Educators of San Francisco. This program involves both the district and the union, who meet and agree on retaining teachers who have improved and releasing even tenured teachers who are not meeting California teaching standards. However, as this program has been in place for many years, and students are still suffering, changes must be made to include their input.
Other states have recognized the ineffectiveness of tenure, and have replaced it with positive alternatives. According to Time Magazine (Time.com), Connecticut, New York and Michigan no longer recognize tenure but continue to protect the due-process rights that tenure defends, and Oregon has replaced the tenure policy with two-year renewable contracts and a rehabilitation program for underachieving instructors.
Also, according to The Bryan College Station Eagle (theeagle.com), Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (Texas A&M University), along with two other schools in the A&M System, believe so much in student input that they offer financial rewards to educators based on end-of-the-semester critiques. Along with the questionnaire, student government members collect information from department heads, review course syllabi and teaching philosophies as submitted by each instructor, as well as a statement on the appropriateness and rigor of the material covered. They then choose the “winners” based on these criteria and award the bonuses to the teachers.
The school district needs to investigate alternatives adopted by other districts and universities to reform a tenure policy that is counterproductive in retaining the best teachers available. It should then create a procedure for collaboration between students, departments and administration in the decision-making process for teacher staffing.
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