It never fails. Just when the legislature seems ready to at least discuss what is really wrong with public schools, the Tribune (Editorial, Oct. 25) trots out the perceived quick fix for all that’s wrong with schools–the education bogeyman, tenure.
Once again it is implied that eliminating tenure will correct the shortcomings of Illinois’ underfunded educational system.
Your editorial alleges that tenure “practically assures teachers a lifetime of job security.” But in the very same paragraph, it is noted that the teacher whose case is referenced was fired. The Tribune did not, however, note that the teacher, while fired in the fall of 1997, had not been in the classroom since March of 1996. Nor did the Tribune report the fact that the teacher was in remediation from 1995 to 1996.
Clearly, the present system provided the teacher with time to improve, but it also provided avenues for termination.
So there is a just way that teachers can be fired, but it cannot, must not, be without due process, just cause or opportunities for remediation and improvement. It must not be one of the “I-don’t-like-your-looks-so-you’re-out-of-here-in-45-days” schemes being bandied about in the Illinois General Assembly.
Tenure in Illinois public schools guarantees only that a teacher will have an opportunity to improve his or her performance if the school administration considers that performance unacceptable and all contractual and legal stipulations have been satisfied. That’s fair. That’s what anyone would want. Failure to improve can and does result in firing.
Please answer the following question honestly: If your supervisor thought you were performing below par, shouldn’t you be so informed and told what you need to do to improve? Tenure ensures due process, nothing more or less.
Teacher evaluation is a specialized task for which the state provides training for administrators. Under the Illinois school code, tenured teachers must be evaluated at least once every two years.
The current public school teacher evaluation system in Illinois works and works well when it is utilized, which is far more than anyone can say about the public school funding system.
The data show that only 44 tenured teachers have been dismissed since 1991. That’s a very small percentage, considering that there are more than 100,000 tenured public school teachers in Illinois. And the small number is not because it’s too hard to fire them, as some less-than-diligent administrators would allege.
Eliminating tenure won’t help a single Illinois child learn to read. Utilizing effectively the current evaluation systems to improve the skills of teachers who need remediation will.
We urge the Tribune to devote even more energy and attention to the real problems plaguing public schools.
