Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/04/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Once an academic has obtained tenure he is no longer evaluated periodically. The stategy is to do good work for the first 3 or 4 years, get the tenure and then coast for the next 30. In order to be removed extreme incompetence or moral terpitude has to be demonstrated, this is practically impossible to do unless there's a smoking gun that shoots silver bullets. While the mechanism for removing tenured inepts exists it can not be implemented against any but the worst of the worst offenders. In practical terms it translates into this. At the university I went to I can remember 2 or 3 decent teachers. The rest had no business calling themselves educators and could not have been there without the magic of tenure. It wasn't a problem for me since I'm a learn it yourself type but some folks need to be taught! Javier BTW: administrators also have an equivalent of tenure in many schools. Their contracts are progressively renewed for longer and longer stretches. The 4th or 5th renewal lasts past their retirement. Tenure! See Ya Javier - --- Adam Bridge <abridge@idea-processing.com> wrote: > On 4/29/02 Ken Wilcox wrote: > > >Your are talking nonsense! Tenure laws do not > protect incompetent > >teachers! Tenured teacher can be and are removed > easily under the > >law. Tenure only protects them from dismissal > without cause. The > >process is simple. a teacher receives notice of a > deficiency in the > >performance of their duties. They are given > specific step which must > >be taken to correct the deficiency. If they fail to > do so they can be > >dismissed. > > > >There are administrators that complain that tenure > protects bad > >teachers. Not true! This is simply and excuse used > by poor > >administrators. Tenure was intended, and is usualy > sucessful in > >reducing the politics of hiring and firing. It > allows teacher to do > >the job of teaching without the necessity of > grandstanding to keep > >their jobs. > > Ken I really have to disagree with you on this one. > > I'd first suggest that tenure is outdated given the > current state of employment > law. > > To remove a tenured teacher takes years and hundreds > of thousands of dollars. > Why? Because the school district pays not only their > own lawyers but the > teacher's as well! Certainly this is true in > California and is probably true in > other places. > > Teaching is one of the few professions where it is > very very difficult to fire a > person once tenure has been established -- often in > as few as two years. > > Tendure DOES protect bad teachers because the labor > required to remove them is > more than most site administrators can afford. To > suggest otherwise is a flat > out misrepresentation of the facts. I wish this were > not the case but it most > certainly is. > > I've watched the process happen, or attempt to > happen. The union gets involved > of course which further polarizes the process. > > Tenure may have been great and needed when teachers > will little ol' school marms > but today's body of employment law covers teachers > as well and prevents > capricious administrators and boards of education > from firing willy-nilly. It > doesn't prevent teachers from claiming they were > treated poorly while still > given due process in an environment designed to > protect their privacy. > > So give the indignant cries a bit of a rest. The > reality is tenure gives the > incompetent a free ride while protecting darn few, > IF ANY, who otherwise aren't > protected at all. > > Adam Bridge > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html