Some Points to Consider About Teacher Tenure*

Some Points to Consider About Teacher Tenure*

What is teacher tenure and what role does “due process” play?

“…it’s not tenure, in the sense that university professors have tenure. It is not a “job for life,” but rather, a due process protection that ensures teachers who need improvement or dismissal are given appropriate chances to address the issues raised.” Teacher tenure uses due process rights to do for educators what the Tenure of Office Acts of 1820 & 1867, the Pendleton Act of 1883, the Hatch Acts of 1939 & 1940, and the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 did to make civil service employment more of a merit system than a spoils system.

The concept of “due process” , which is established by the Fifth & Fourteenth Amendments, is fundamental to American society. So, the question is not “shall we take away tenure from teachers?” More accurately, the question is “shall we take away the fundamental right of due process from teachers?” I suspect that, if a poll of citizens properly defined teacher tenure and then asked if that tenure should be taken away from teachers, the outcome of the poll would be quite different than the outcome of polls used by those seeking to abolish teacher tenure.

*Quotes are taken from a Washington Post – Answer Sheet column of August 26th by David B. Cohen; a veteran teacher, National Board Certified, and associate director of the Accomplished California Teachers group.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/08/26/the-problem-with-the-problem-with-tenure-for-teachers/