From the NY Post:No stranger to making education reforms, Mayor Bloomberg outlined a plan today to do away with lifetime positions and replace it with a system where teachers would be required to earn tenure.
In an effort to focus on teacher quality and effectiveness, the city will implement a four-tier rating system for determining whether a teacher should be awarded the tenure protections that come with the job.
Starting this year, only teachers rated “effective” or “highly effective” will be eligible for tenure, Bloomberg said, transforming a system from one in which tenure is taken for granted to one in which it must be earned.
In the announcement, city officials said tenure may be awarded in the third year -- or any time thereafter -- always contingent on whether a teacher has made a significant impact on student achievement.
20 comments:
That's how it should always be with anything => earned instead of taking it for granted. Man, the city's US public education system sucks.
He's not ending tenure, only changing it. In theory, proposing the somehow not every teacher will not obtain tenure by longevity. Although by civil service rules, they cannot be fired for not meeting performance goals. That aspect of the private sector is not on the radar.
yes yes yes! Break the unions!!!
they cannot be fired for not meeting performance goals.
If they cannot be fired for not meeting performance goals, then what are they needed it for? I don't get it. That is the loophole and a big one that cause the taxpayers money big time.
Might as well pay any person on the street to teach because someone on the street might be even a better teacher than one that has a degree or certification.. those are only needed for legal reasons.
I wonder if the Bronx hooker teacher falls under this category, or will the Union back her to the nth degree?
What you all are failing to realize is all that tenure means is that a teachers is entitled to a hearing before being fired. Teachers CAN be fired. It just takes WORK on the part of the administrator.
The teaching profession is very susceptible to abusive tactics on the part of administrators. Tenure is only a safeguard so that teachers can't be fired just because the boss doesn't like him or her but is doing a good job.
Shouldn't people in all professions be entitled to due process?
"Shouldn't people in all professions be entitled to due process?"
Yes, but the question is always, how much process is due? Years of sitting in the rubber room is not due process, it's a complete waste of taxpayer money.
I agree Crappy. This allows flagrant abuse against teachers. It also encourages social promotion, since most teachers will fear failing poor students.
Good education starts with the children and the parents, and neither are addressed in this "solution."
Good education starts with the children and the parents, and neither are addressed in this "solution."
*thumbs up*
Glad to hear that Bloomberg came out of his coma and figured out that after all these years tenure needs to be addressed. Sounds like he's running for a third term.
What's so bad about getting fired if your boss doesn't like you? It happens all the time in the private sector.
What's the average time between an actual valid complaint or incident of violence and the teacher involved being terminated? In some cases, "due process" goes on for a decade.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City said yesterday that he wants to change the way public school teachers are granted tenure. I am trying to find New York City teachers who would be willing to comment for a story on tenure. I would ask questions like, how does tenure work at your school? Are there unqualified teachers who have tenure so they’ll be there forever? Or conversely, if you have tenure are you grateful for the job security? I am interested in all comments.
Karen Matthews
Associated Press
212-621-1670
There is a weird notion on the minds of city employees. They think they 'own' their jobs. There are are great people that work for NYC, but there are also a ton on of slobs that use the union as their protection.
One can only be properly evaluated if one is fully in control of all the variables. Teachers are not in control of all the variables. The evaluation process is hindered,thereby disabling the proposed tenure assignment.
Be careful what you wish for. If teachers are not granted tenure NYC will have a difficult time attracting good teachers to teach in schools in poor areas. Why would they teach there if they feel they are better off teaching in middle class neighborhoods where they know the kids will perform well?
Teachers need job security more than the average private sector employee because if they loose their job they can't find employment as teachers anywhere else in the city. I can always apply to another company if I loose my job, whereas the dept of education is the only game in town if you are a city teacher.
I have kids in the public schools in Queens, and I see both the good and bad of having a teachers union, but I have to say, my school has attracted great teachers because of the benefits they get.
My problem is with Bloomberg and Klein-thy almost ruined our over crowded large middle school in Forest Hills by trying to place a high school in the same building!
District 26 has great schools even if the teachers are unionized, whereas the Bronx districts do not? Why? Let us not pretend that it is the socioeconomic background of the kids that is the variable for a good school-union or no union.
The only good reform we need is: smaller classrooms (which Klein does not address), and a quicker process for getting rid of the worst teachers.
Everything else suggested by Klein is a gimmick to make bloomberg look good.
"The only good reform we need is: smaller classrooms (which Klein does not address), and a quicker process for getting rid of the worst teachers"
Absolutely!
By the constant focus on eliminating "bad" teachers, they are not addressing the true issues that plague schools: poverty and lack of parental involvement. Until you truly fix those two problems, you can open all the charters, fire all the bad educators and close all the poor-performing schools you want. It will change nothing.
"Be careful what you wish for. If teachers are not granted tenure NYC will have a difficult time attracting good teachers to teach in schools in poor areas. Why would they teach there if they feel they are better off teaching in middle class neighborhoods where they know the kids will perform well?"
You mean like the 70's? When kids didn't go to inner city schools and hung out all day and formed gangs to prey on the vulnerable? Isn't this happening already?
Bloomberg was not around in the 70's. He was living high on the hog in Boston. He's the LAST person in this city to be saying he's an expert in this. He's a total failure when it comes to education. His numbers are all faked and don't hold any water. Now he's desperate to come up with a solution IN HIS THIRD TERM.
I would love to drop my Democratic Party registration and turn Independent but with people like Bloomberg and Leiberman heading the Independent spin, I would rather throw up my breakfast. These two pieces of shit have put the kabbash on the Independent Party FOR GOOD.
If having the ability to fire poor teachers means it might be harder to attract people to be teachers, that's a risk worth taking. How many people now don't want to be teachers because the worst teachers stick around forever because of tenure?
People don't want to be teachers because the pay is low and the stress is high. There is a reason why more than half of new teachers leave after a few years teaching.
Putting all the pressure on "data" will make the problem all the more worse.
If it was already difficult to attract qualified people to go into teaching, it will now be even worse. If teachers will be blamed for all the ills of society, honestly, it's better to work at Burger King.
Queens teacher is totallu right! I am SICK of people who have never taught shooting their mouths off about education. Come in and try it for a day, you ignorant loudmouths. ONE DAY. Then you maybe I'll listen to your idiotic comments
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