Teacher tenure. What does this word mean? In many's eyes, tenure is seen as an unfair advantage to teachers and a cruel rule to students. However, according to teacherunion.com, “tenure is the practice of guaranteeing a teacher their job.” Typically, all teachers earn this privilege through quantity, and not by quality. Just a few years after starting to teach, they are granted tenure. And because of Teacher’s Union, it is almost impossible to break teacher (i.e. a bad teacher) from this rule. Teacher tenure is a highly debatable topic- Should it be kept or banned forever in all schools? However, there is clearly only one explanation to this problem: We simply cannot continue with teacher tenure. It has passed it’s expiration date and can no longer be useful in …show more content…
During the late 18th century, tenure was passed in order to protect teachers against discrimination, such as race, gender, political stands, age, ethnical backgrounds, and religion. Today, society is more accepting of people’s differences than ever before. Since the world is so equal today, why still have tenure? The same discrimination can happen with any other job, too. What makes teachers so special? According to one of many tenure debates lead by teachers themselves, tenure no longer fits the original criteria to why it was started in the first place (because of gender, race, religion, political stands, etc.). However, some may think otherwise. It is true that change will always be a problem in the world one way or another. There is still discrimination in society. While this is a good point, let's not forget about the positives. Just one example is that gender discrimination is at it’s lowest point yet in America, right now. It is also true that the main reasons to why tenure was created in the first place is no longer as important now-a-days. Therefore, in conclusion, tenure is very out of date and should not be tolerated any
Problems in Tenure Litigation The case Howard University v. Best, 547 A.2d 144 (D.C. Cir. 1988), is the second appeal arising out the employment contract of appellee Dr. Marie L. Best with appellant Howard University. In Howard University v. Best, 484 A2d 958,990 (D.C. 1884) (Best I), Dr. Best stated claims of indefinite tenure, sex discrimination, and intentional infliction of emotional distress as a result of, not being awarded indefinite tenure but a late notice for a non-renewal of her contract ( Kaplin, W. A., & Lee, B. A. ,2013). In the trial, the verdict was in favor of Dr. Best, holding the University had breached its contract with her by failing to provide timely notice of non-renewal.
Having this “one person, one principal”(Pg.4 Par.1) does not make everyone equal, especially the schools with more people than others. When everyone is not given a chance, it begins to create a more flawed system which can lead to disaster. In conclusion, having this law passed could help all in the future. Equality is something that everyone deserves to have in their life. The VHSL is not giving the people what they believe is right and they are then creating a crack in the system.
Teacher attrition in PGCPS is just below the national average for urban school districts. The Maryland Teacher Staffing Report (2012) produced by the Maryland State Department of Education shows that between October, 2010 and October, 2011, PGCPS had a 13.3% teacher attrition rate compared to 4.5% in Montgomery County, and 5.9% in Anne Arundel County. Kent County had the lowest teacher attrition rate of all Maryland districts at 2.3%. Only Baltimore City Public Schools had a comparable rate of teacher attrition as PGCPS at 12.2 percent see Table 1.
Oftentimes it represents individuals who have been employed at the institution for a number of years. One of the privileges of being tenured is that it allows the employee certain liberties. According to Cameron (2010), “tenure is the basic concept that
Professor Paul Douglas asked this question at the 1929 AFT national convention, “allowed to be determined by vaudeville promoters, and real estate agents, and lawyers, and bankers, every interest in the community sitting on school boards, except teachers?” Professor Paul Douglas who later will the the Senator from Illinois, was very upset with teachers were getting treated compared to similar jobs. The school boards went out of their way and into their employees’ lives. They fired teachers for not attending church, failing to vote, or not attending local parades. Also a couple of school boards fired women teachers for wearing the wrong clothing, having the wrong hairstyle, being over the age of forty, and sometimes for getting married.
During the 1960s there was a surge of Civil and Labor Rights movements. This led to the creation of many new policies in the work place, especially for public school teachers. This was the result of a large amount of collective bargaining agreements and strikes that took place during this time. The Chicago Teachers Union negotiated its first official contract with the Chicago Board of Education in the year 1967. The collective bargaining between the two yielded many new benefits for public school teachers including a pay increase, medical benefits, lunch breaks, and grievance procedures allowing for leave.
They wanted to give their students the same educational opportunities as Caucasian students. Teachers before the Brown v. Broad of Education era were highly respected among their students and their fellow peers. They were the leaders and ministers in their communities. According to Hawkins (1994) who estimates that in 1954, over 82,000 African-American teachers in the United States provided instruction for a Black student population numbering around two million.
This data along with data from other cities such as Chicago where only 0.1% of teachers between 2005 and 2008 were dismissed for performance-related circumstances, proves that in the united stated the public school system is broken and in need of help as stated in “Waiting for
The segregated schools have a remarkable difference in the quality of education. It is reported that even the teachers at white schools made a larger salary than that of teachers at segregated schools. Overall the right to education in the 1940s was very racially discriminatory to African Americans and other
Times are changing, but “teachers, crucially, are not self-sacrificing martyrs” (Jaffe). Even with extensive training, a teacher cannot and
Decades ago, children of various races could not go to school together in many locations of the United States. School districts could segregate students, legally, into different schools according to the color of their skin. The law said these separate schools had to be equal. Many schools for children that possessed color were of lesser quality than the schools for white students. To have separate schools for the black and white children became a basic rule in southern society.
Tenure is the length of time an employee has worked for an organization. This metric is calculated using: Total months “stayed” / Number of current employees (SAMHSA, n.d.). Rational: Average employee tenure is in close relationship with employee satisfaction and turnover rate indicators. As discussed earlier, highly satisfied employees have more commitment and loyalty to their organization and probably stay for a longer period with the same company.
Throughout many of the affirmative action legal cases, one of the main arguments from proponents is that it is necessary in order to right the wrongs of past racial discrimination. Some say that affirmative action is justified because even though white applicants may be more qualified, this is only because they did not face the same hardships as their minority counterparts (Rachels, Ethics, 1973). Many argue if we do not integrate disadvantaged minorities into mainstream social institutions, they will continue to suffer the discrimination that has plagued our country for centuries and that this is detrimental to not only the minorities but also society as a whole (Anderson, 2002, 1270–71). However, the debate has recently shifted to the benefits of diversity in the classroom which the Supreme Court has affirmed as being a positive thing
Portraying bias or discrimination towards a group of people in the society should be eliminated from the minds of public administrators. They should treat everybody with the same manner and respect. People work in the public sector to work and represent different people. When you cannot hire someone from a diverse age group or in some case different background, it causes damage to the organization where they work. It is unethical for public administrator or the agency not to hire different people from different age and background because it limits the company from understanding things from different viewpoints.
The title of non-tenured communicates meaning in that these positions are described by what they lack. In other words, how they are less-than other faculty. That title also outlines that these faculty are contingent, often not eligible for promotion or permanent status. Policy descriptions of these roles further disenfranchises NTT faculty. Most are not eligible to participate fully in faculty governance (AAUP, 2013b).