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Not mincing his words here evidently… I’ll comply with the new law that allowed Bloomberg to serve this term, but I don’t have to like it.  Actually that may be a little different…

“writing papers about things that are very controversial” 

Wow – that’s a gross oversimplification there.  If I were teaching at a nyc public school I’d seek tenure just to make sure Bloomberg or some other ‘ed reform’ mayor doesn’t change whatever test is keeping me, my students and my school accountable down the road. 

The mayor would have more credibility regarding tenure if anything else he says about schools were actually true.  Once again, in order to keep the spotlight off of his failed policies, he’s attacking teacher.

The best and brightest, being… well… bright… need no longer apply. Or won’t, at least

Bloomie needs to check up on his history. Yes, tenure was first granted to college professors to allow academic freedom. However, around the early 1900′s it was extended to public school teachers. (Who were primarily women) Many female teachers at the time were fired for things such as getting pregnant, wearing certain clothing, or teaching from texts that the school systems did not approve of. Tenure was crucial then and it is just as important now. If a principal does his or her job correctly, tenure works just fine. 

Wow he lies what a surprise. He wants to destroy teaching in New York City.What do you think he wants to do?
Joe klein will come in and fill the void with all his 40 day wonders with no job security no tenue but who will make all the money.He got a third term and is using it to get even.
Recall the mayor

Isn’t the mayors business Bloomberg L.P. in court regarding charges brought by female employees claiming discrimination. If I recall correctly one plaintiff filed charges that she was denied promotion due to a pregnancy. Maybe tenure should be afforded employees at his former company the one that he has NO INVOLVEMENT IN ANY LONGER!!!!!!

Well if Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor are sure the #’s will go up–to 5-10% denials  50%+ delays that is not a good gamble for a young person –now is it?

Are you saying that women are never fired for being pregnant? And if they are, that the law will typically provide a satisfactory and timely remedy?

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/bloomberg-is-questioned-in-sex-harassment-suit/

Even an open-and-shut case of true discrimination can become a toss-up against an entity with unlimited amounts of lawyers, money, and time. 

Tenure didn’t start in the McCarthy era. It began in the 1880s as civil service reform, intended to protect civil servants against the spoils system and political firings. the idea was to have a cadre of nonpolitical government workers who would not be replaced by political hacks with each new election.

The mayor is not only wrong about the chronology of tenure, as many commenters have pointed out, but also about its workings during the McCarthy era itself. In fact, over 1,000 teachers were investigated and over 375 dismissed or forced out of their jobs by the withhhunts of the 1950′s. Many of those forced out had tenure.

Tenure also did not protect professors at City College when the 
Dies Committee, the first version House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was formed in 1938, and sought to expose so-called Communist infiltration of higher education. 

The mayor should also be asked about McCarthyism and the DOE’s treatment of Debbie Almontaser, who, along her students, was viciously smeared by Joel Klein’s current employer and legal client, Rupert Murdoch, leading to her removal.

Many top corporations, last time I checked, have protections resembling tenure for people doing complex though perhaps entry-level jobs. In general, employees don’t get canned after one poor rating on an annual review. There would be questions and recommendations. After the second poor rating, there would be strong suggestions or orders to either transfer to a different group or department or risk clearly articulated and immediate disciplinary actions for further sub-par performance. And THAT’s when you could get fired for poor performance.

Also, in regard to tenure being too easy to get: It should be easy to get a meager protection, especially given the outrageously high percentages of inept and/or warped supervisors out there, the complexity of the job, the lack of a general consensus about what modern education should be and the failure to fix the system. Tenure, as it is now, is extremely meager when you really contemplate the ugly truth of those givens.

The Mayor and his corporate friends should get the hell out of education and start creating jobs instead of outsourcing them.  When are we going to expose these hypocrites?  They do nothing, and I mean nothing, to combat unemployment in this country.  It’s time to steal the ball from out of their hands.  

If only tenure could be bought in the same way third terms are.

Hey Flerpo. I worked in a charter school for a year and I saw administrators who treated pregnant teachers like garbage. (Giving them unpopular classes, extra duties, etc) They did not have tenure. The secret at the school was “don’t get pregnant”. 

Yes, crucial, but should not be an additional hurdle beyond say 3 or 4 years of good ratings — in this system! The E4E people are too idealistic, reactionary and naive. If it’s only Uber-Teachers that can get it, it should only be Uber-Ed Experts who should be running things, but they’re all busy taking down the degenerate deformers.

Just an aside:that rhetoric of ‘the best and brightest’ is so silly- Everyone must realize that society requires a great deal of people to become teachers. 
So how is it possible, given the numbers required and the pay scale ,that teachng can ever be a profession of the ‘best and brightest?Teachers in my school are great, but probably it is more realistic to call them ‘bright and competent’. That first term, when used by reformers, serves nefarious purposes. It seems to want to emotionally wring from parents, the thought that ‘gee, my kids deserve only the very best’! and this current system is set up to somehow deny them that(selfish uft!)

I have no problem with your analysis, though some trs do go admin.

Also, what some trs and schools have to do within a broken system, under hugely adverse conditions, could be viewed as controversial. The Mayor, like most people who have never worked in those specific kinds of conditions, is oblivious to this.

It was. That’s how it exists.

The law provides a remedy. The same remedy the rest of us have. Use it. You don’t deserve better than the general public, particularly when you work in a field that is far less hostile to women than many if not most other fields. You want to get fired for getting pregnant, go work for Goldman Sach.

I have taught. University level, not K-12. And I tend to think that those who benefit personally from tenure (for example) are the least credible people in any argument about tenure. You want tenure because it benefits you. That’s fine–we all tend to like things that benefit us–but don’t mistake personal bias for valuable insight and credibility.

Personally I think tenure does more harm good, but I also think the system could be modified in productive ways that would still give teachers a sense if security. It’s the pensions that need to go. And they will go eventually, trust me.

“I have taught. University level, not K-12. And I tend to think that
those who benefit personally from tenure (for example) are the least
credible people in any argument about tenure”

I have been teaching at the college level and at the secondary level for 30 years. Your statement is very insulting and in fact it shows a complete ignorance of the politics and the personality clashes that exist in any University department. Tenure is an absolute necessity in academia.

This is a website for people who teach, parents or anyone involved in education. He is only here to spew his agenda. Have him spend some time working in a school and then his words will have some meaning. Trying to reason with someone like this is a waste of time and energy.

Your a parent and you agree to whats happening to teachers across the country? You agree to what Bloomberg is doing to the NYC education system?? Its ok with you that Millions of dollars are going to programs and consultants that have little or no effect on educating students??? I will tolerate your presence because you have a right to your opinion but I am a member of the system which you will never destroy. Go to work in a school and then talk.