The Detroit News is highlighting ideas from various groups to promote discussion on reform, restructuring government and the economy.
End K-12 teacher tenure
Idea 44: End the practice of teacher tenure as we know it and base continued employment, promotion and compensation on jointly established performance goals.
Why: There are few high-performance organizations that base promotions and continued employment solely on degrees earned and time on the job. While losing a job is the capital punishment of the workplace and should be the last act after due process, training and other disciplinary programs, guaranteed employment puts adult needs above the needs of our children and the state's future.
Benefits: Perhaps nothing is more demoralizing to an organization than having poor performers continue to be compensated the same as top performers. This is even more true in education, where research demonstrates that an ineffective teacher has devastating impact on students' future success. The Obama administration's Race to the Top initiative will reward states with $4 billion in grants for schools that align their system to improved student performance.
How: The governor and Legislature should pass a law that prohibits local districts from perpetuating tenure and compensation systems that do not produce academic results and encourage new fair employment systems. If that isn't possible, lengthen the current probationary period for tenure of four years so administrators can more easily dismiss unsatisfactory performers. In the meantime, local school boards and teacher unions should work together to address this issue, and local communities should monitor their progress. Model schools have offered increased teacher pay, peer review and even bonuses for giving up tenured-based job security.
Obstacles: Teacher unions historically oppose eliminating tenure, arguing that it allows principals to hire teachers for arbitrary reasons, including personal or political payback.
Source: Tom Watkins, state superintendent
of public instruction, 2001-05, and
Mackinac Center for Public Policy
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