Comments on: Teacher Tenure Tantrum

By: Devon

Devon — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:11:25 +0000

Too many people are trying to decide upon teacher tenure, evaluations, etc. and they do not know anything about education and things going on in the schools. The teachers should take online proficiency exams or something similar to airline pilots. Our lives are in the hands of pilots and they do not require as much evaluation as teachers. Go figure? It is all a political showdown!

By: Stultus Magnus

Stultus Magnus — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:39:38 +0000

Bloomberg won’t get away with determining teachers’ tenure based on test scores. That will effectively eliminate tenure for every new teacher once he passes that law, good luck with that. I know a teacher who once taught a 4th grade ESL class in the Bronx, under the absurd testing standards, she probably would have been fired and certainly never granted tenure. But now she’s a highly-valued pre-k teacher, with tenure, in Queens. Bloomberg’s proposed “testing for tenure” would have pushed her out a long time ago.

By: sodeskune

sodeskune — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:27:20 +0000

Mel, why is due process for teachers a joke? I mean isn’t the way it works like this – you have a bad teacher and you build a case against him or her by observations and other reports. Is it a joke because it’s hard to build a case? I would think if the teacher is “bad” it should be easy enough to document.

By: Robert Bobrick

Robert Bobrick — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:05:25 +0000

The Mayor is not interested in better teachers. His agenda is to break the union. As an ambitious wannabe in the world financial oligarchy, Bloomberg seeks to please his British masters and their Wall Street partners by implementing his green environmentalist and corporatist education policies, which are designed to maintain the power of a bankrupt monetary system. If you destroy the teachers union and make teachers fearful, you prove, don’t you, that there is no resisting such policies? After all, if teachers can’t buck the Mayor and the financial elite, who can? On the other hand, if the UFT took a principled stand for tenure, they would likely find a a large measure of public sympathy and support. The UFT should take advantage of the widespread anti-Bloomberg sentiment, drop its cooperative tone and rouse the members to action to save tenure and honor former President Weingarten’s public pledge to defend the ATRs “over her dead body.”

By: mel

mel — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:10:03 +0000

“due process” for teachers is a joke.
and you know it.

By: sodeskune

sodeskune — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:10:06 +0000

The mayor could barely put together enough votes to get re-elected after spending millions and millions against a guy that barely ran a campaign. I think Bloomberg’s position after this election has been greatly weakened. As for tenure, I think it is necessary. It’s not that teachers cannot be fired, it’s that they are allowed due process. What is so terrible about that? Shouldn’t every person want that in his/her job – to be given due process instead of being left to the whims of someone’s subjective analysis of their work? And why the constant teacher-bashing? At the heart of this discussion on tenure is a fundamental resentment and scorn for teachers. I just don’t understand it. Most teachers are extremely hardworking and dedicated people, yet they are continuously portrayed as a group of slackers who get paid even when they are not doing their jobs. Stop picking on hardworking, working-class people, trying to make a decent living.

By: Michael Shulman

Michael Shulman — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:19:12 +0000

What about administrative competency and tenure? Teachers in high schools are observed 6 times in the first year, 4 in the second, etc. These observations are mainly unannounced. In addition, principals can walk in to any teachers classroom as often as they like. Shouldn’t administrators, if they’re doing their jobs, detect deficient or incompetent teachers during the probationary period. Three years is plenty of time to evaluate teacher performance. A major problem is that administrators have a “gotcha” mentality instead of giving needed support to help newly hired educators.

By: oscar

oscar — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:56:59 +0000

tenure is horrible.
period.

By: Leonie Haimson

Leonie Haimson — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:46:21 +0000

David, good posting. But can you explain how Bloomberg is a lame duck? Wasn’t he just re-elected to another four year term? or was it all a bad dream?

By: norm

norm — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:45:53 +0000

David
In reality it is not 3 years to tenure but 4 since teachers can be forced to sign a waiver that gives then a 4th year. I’ve heard from people in that situation and they have no choice. If they don’t sign they are fired. The UFT knows all about it and tells them to sign. I’m not sure what ruling or law allows this. But why won’t we see a 5th year or a 6th? Or a 10th?

By: NYC Educator

NYC Educator — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:22:30 +0000

He was term-limited and precluded from running again last time, too. Michael Bloomberg does not seem to let things like that stand in the way of his career.

By: alim

alim — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:59:37 +0000

Research the number of 5 year denials of tenure for Assistant Principals and you will see why 5 years is too long.

By: David Bloomfield

David Bloomfield — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:44:48 +0000

Once again, believe it or not, he’s term limited and precluded from running again.

By: Leonie Haimson

Leonie Haimson — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:24:07 +0000

Interesting post, David; but can you explain why you call Bloomberg a lame duck? If my memory serves correctly, he was just re-elected to a four year term. Was it all a bad dream, perhaps?