In Defense Of Teacher Tenure In Schools

Teacher tenure is job protection for teachers who have been employed as a teacher for one or more years depending on the state. Originally tenure was made to help low-income schools to attract, and keep, good teachers (“Should Teachers Get Tenure”) but it also protects teachers from being fired for political or personal reasons. It also prevents school districts from firing experienced teachers to replace them with less expensive teachers. The crucial issue with teacher tenure is that it is offered to a teacher after only one or so years and requires little additional effort afterwards. Once tenure is given to a teacher there are very brief and rare followups to ensure that the teacher still qualifies for tenure. Nearly every teacher receives

Randi Weingarten the President of American Federation of Teachers or AFT said that tenure “is not a job for life. It’s ensuring fairness and due process before someone can be fired” ("Teacher Tenure Debate: Pros & Cons."). Tenure may be a way to secure a teacher's job but with a process there is a way to fire a teacher with tenure. In an article titled "In Defense of Teacher Tenure," published in the Wall Street Journal, Pedro A. Noguera said "Tenure should never prevent a school district from getting rid of bad teachers. Tenure has never been -- nor should it be -- a guarantee of a job for life…”. ("Teacher Tenure Debate: Pros & Cons.") Tenure was not originally made to be nor should not be a barrier to prevent bad teachers from being fired. Though tenure was created to help teachers and the students, like many first attempts it has its many flaws and should be

“ Illinois school districts that have hired outside lawyers in these cases have spent an average of more than $219,000 in legal fees during the last five years.”("The Hidden Cost of Tenure.") According to “The Hidden Cost of Tenure” Illinois, in one year alone, school districts spent an average of $219,000 to attempt to fire teachers with tenure. “So in just under two years a teacher can be fired. However at this point the teacher can file an appeal in court. This can take an estimate of 2-5 years.”("Firing Teachers with Due Process.") It can take anywhere from two to five years to simply fire a teacher with tenure even if they are guilty of malpractice. Tenure makes it extremely difficult to get rid of a teacher who deserves to be