Teacher tenure reform (United States)
Teacher tenure is a policy that restricts the ability to fire teachers, requiring a "just cause" rationale for firing. The individual states each have established their own tenure systems. Tenure provides teachers with protections by making it difficult to fire teachers who earn tenure. Some states are focusing on revisions so that the tenure system no longer functions the same way as currently. Overview While each state has its own specifics for how teacher tenure works, most hold a similar form. Each new teacher is given a probationary period (probation periods vary among states). During this probation period, teachers must prove they are worthy of receiving tenure. They must prove that they are having a positive effect on their students using a teacher evaluation system, which includes information from several facets of a teacher's responsibilities. Some common facets are classroom observations, student growth, and self-reflection (see, for example, New Haven and the state of Virginia ). For example, currently under New Jersey's tenure system, a teacher is placed on probation for three years during which time the teacher is evaluated using a system called AchieveNJ. During or after these three years, the principal must decide if the school will grant tenure to this teacher. If so, the teacher will be asked to work there for a fourth year and will be granted tenure. The principal is able to fire a teacher at any time during the probation period. However, once a teacher is tenured, the principal can no longer fire a teacher without just cause. The teacher is then protected by tenure. There are four reasons a teacher may be fired in New Jersey once they are tenured. The reasons include: incapacity, inefficiency, unbecoming conduct and just cause. A teacher being fired for any of these reasons is given a chance to defend their case. History Tenure was created to provide teachers with due process protections. Some say the fight for these protections started around the 1920s as an outgrowth of the women's rights movement at a time when most teachers were women and most principals were men. But a historical survey of indefinite teacher tenure activities and legislation in the United States found that indefinite tenure is a direct outgrowth of the civil service reform movement of the nineteenth century and that the line of historical development extends continuously from 1880. The debate Proposals to change or eliminate tenure Several states are looking into changing (in the name of reforming) and even eliminating their teacher tenure system. Some of the states leading the movement include Florida, New Jersey, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania. Many would also like to see teachers being evaluated based on their performance and their students' academic achievement. In eight states in America, tenure is given to teachers after just two years of teaching during the probation period. In two states, tenure is awarded after only one year of teaching during the probation period. Washington DC does not require a set time for