- Joined
- Oct 29, 2011
- Messages
- 2,353
- Reaction score
- 1,705
There is a process to fire underperforming teachers with tenure, yes.
Basically, an administrator has to tell a teacher why he feels she is underperforming, establish a metric of improvement, and offer some coaching or training to that teacher. If the administrator does this and the teacher doesn't improve, they can be fired.
It's not an unreasonable process given the somewhat subjective nature of "good" teaching. The thing is, it makes more work for the administrators, and they have to be willing to rock the boat.
So, tenure isn't really the problem; administrative inertia is.
Also, remember that a teacher can be let go at will before he or she has tenure. That means the administration gets a four or five year test drive to decide if a teacher has "it" or not. Lots of underperforming teachers ARE let go within a year or two with no tenure process to protect them. I know a music teacher who was let go after one year and simply told, "You were OK, but we are looking for someone great." I also know several certified teachers who have gone years without being able to find jobs because they don't interview well and/or didn't get great recommendations as student teachers. Despite common misconceptions, not just any idiot can become a tenured teacher-- not in a decent district at least.
The process can take years and cost the schools system thousands of dollars. It isn't a reasonable process. It very rarely happens because of how difficult it is to fire them.