Quality: Protect Students

Tenure holds a negative connotation in the field of long-term employment. Be it medical, law enforcement, political, or educational, the idea of job security can equate protection for the wrong figures. However, as The New York Times defines it, tenure is simply the right to due process procedures for dismissals without cause, protecting educators from capricious dismissal from their administration. A tenured teacher cannot be fired on the whim of a school administrator; charges will need to be filed, evaluations submitted, and hearings held. The Huffington Post asserts that tenure is a defense against the abuse of power against university presidents who would fire their subordinates, often because of their social or political views. This prevents personal bias as part of their termination and encourages teachers who are sure of their job security to publish research and academic works without concern for any controversy to be the cause of their dismissal.

From The Huffington Post, “A high school social studies teacher, Alan Singer wrote recently for the Huffington Post about how he helped students form clubs which ‘testified in public hearings against budget cuts in education and in favor of condom availability in schools.’ Without the protection that tenure offered, Singer argues, he would not have felt safe supporting his students on such politically controversial issues.”

Stronger tenure provisions would attract a better pool of teacher candidates while improving the morale of the current teachers. Because tenure allows teachers to conduct their own research and protects them from administrators who might disagree with the work or subject material, educators would be more compelled to either pursue or continue a career in teaching under tenure. That freedom also benefits students, as teachers who are more engaged and impassioned about their work are more likely to provide a more enjoyable and engrossing educational experience for their pupils. The New York Times reports, “States without tenure are at the bottom of performance rankings. States with the highest-achieving public schools have tenure (and teacher unions).”

Some may argue that teacher tenure is more harmful than helpful as it protects bad teachers and makes it harder to fire teachers with lower performance ratings. A CNN report, however, finds that when asked to choose from four broad reasons why public schools have inadequate performances, “almost no one puts the blame on ‘bad teachers.’ Instead, 40% cite a lack of parental involvement/support. Another 29% name inadequate funding and resources for public schools. And 18% peg it on the effects of poverty, hardships, and problems kids bring to school. Only a mere 3% uttered the words ‘bad teachers’ — including 4% of Republicans and 3% of conservatives.” Clearly, there are many more important factors to faulty education–all of them more at fault than “bad teachers.”

Teachers are the ones who educate our youth, shaping the world’s future doctors, lawyers, and politicians. They teach us not what to think but how, and it is only fair we allow them the same freedom and creative environment they allow their students.