5 thoughts on “Problem Memo – Tenure in NYC Public Schools”
Michael, Great memo. I believe that you brought together a great argument for changing the system. I do agree that it is too easy for teachers to gain tenure in the public school system. I had never heard of the 3020 proceedings before. Does this process always take that long? What if a teacher was accused of molestation, would the proceedings move more quickly. I did not have an educational background in the public school system until I started college so I can’t bring any personal experience to the memo. However I did attend Catholic school which currently is having a lot of students coming forward claiming molestation charges. This is something that must be resolved. I believe that if you were able to bring up a case where a teacher that had been arrested for child molestation charges and continued to be protected by the tenure system it might bring great emotion to the subject and create some meaningful deliberation on the topic. I know that fox news had released a “dirty dozen” which was a list of teachers that were charged with crimes against youth yet were still protected by the tenure system. If the proceedings for this type of behavior take as long the public will side with you on your argument that the tenure system has to be changed.
Thanks Kevin,
There are certainly many cases of sexual misconduct of teachers.
The process for these cases are almost just as long. In the past many of these teachers would be sent to rubber rooms where they would just sit there all day and still collect a salary. Now they are reassigned within the school or other DOE sites.
I considered factoring in criminal misconduct as well but decided to focus on ineffective teachers only since the standard is higher and once the tenure laws are fixed, it’ll impact those who should be fired for misconduct reasons.
Thanks for bringing this up. I will likely add these cases since it’s a much better illustration on the ridiculous protection tenured teachers get.
Thanks Grace,
I definitely agree with you on the issue of Common Core education. I imagine being forced to teach a certain way handcuffs the creative approach of a teacher. Also, I’ve never been a big believer on standardized testing and how it measures a student. I certainly won’t blame a teacher for the low test grades of its students.
If we can change the testing, maybe we should change the way we view ineffectiveness. Instead of grading a teacher by the test scores, we can grade them based on in-classroom observations and a student’s long-term success instead of short-term test results. Outside of my own experience, the only exposure I have to this issue (teachers forced to teach to the test) is Season 4 of The Wire, which as impressive as that was, is not sufficient. I know from personal experience, a good teacher can have long term effects on you. You may not get the high test scores right away but the values and habits you gain from a teacher can benefit you for the rest of your life.
Thanks again for bringing up the curriculum. I haven’t thought about how we’re even going to determine ineffectiveness. If tenure laws do change, we have to properly define what an ineffective teacher is. I wouldn’t want test scores to be the determining factor. I didn’t go to a prestigious high-school but the kids were smart enough and did well enough on these tests that would skew the results in favor of the bad teachers.
Michael, I enjoyed reading your problem memo. Vergara vs. California certainly is a hugely important case in education that will have ramifications in many other states.
I think though that your arguments could be bolstered firstly by showing the harms of having inadequate teachers in the classroom, and illustrate how tenure enforces this harm. While your paper illustrated the issues you have with tenure being a philosophically unjust system, it does not clearly demonstrate how tenure produces any harms. There are many studies showing the negative effects of having a poor teacher a number of years in a row that would be powerful in making your case. Secondly New York has taken many steps in recent years to try ensure the quality of its teachers, including modifying tenure and teacher evaluations. I would encourage you to research New York’s tenure rules and teacher evaluation rules and reference them in your proposal. For starters, you could read: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/nyregion/tenure-granted-to-58-of-eligible-teachers-in-city.html http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/nyregion/new-evaluation-system-for-new-york-teachers.html
I look forward to reading your proposed solution!
HI Michael,
I enjoyed reading your memo. I think something you did very well was to strike an appropriate tone that allowed you to question the validity of tenure while still conceding some of the other points. I imagine in these types of situations knowing your audience and being respectful is a large part of the responses vary.
I didn’t know about the 3020-a proceeding or the court case in California. I’m sure the teachers union will appeal the decision and I wonder if the Supreme Court will accept the case. Very Interesting!
Michael, Great memo. I believe that you brought together a great argument for changing the system. I do agree that it is too easy for teachers to gain tenure in the public school system. I had never heard of the 3020 proceedings before. Does this process always take that long? What if a teacher was accused of molestation, would the proceedings move more quickly. I did not have an educational background in the public school system until I started college so I can’t bring any personal experience to the memo. However I did attend Catholic school which currently is having a lot of students coming forward claiming molestation charges. This is something that must be resolved. I believe that if you were able to bring up a case where a teacher that had been arrested for child molestation charges and continued to be protected by the tenure system it might bring great emotion to the subject and create some meaningful deliberation on the topic. I know that fox news had released a “dirty dozen” which was a list of teachers that were charged with crimes against youth yet were still protected by the tenure system. If the proceedings for this type of behavior take as long the public will side with you on your argument that the tenure system has to be changed.
Thanks Kevin,
There are certainly many cases of sexual misconduct of teachers.
See below:
http://nypost.com/2014/06/14/tenured-teachers-they-cheat-they-loaf-they-cant-be-fired/
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443437504577547313612049308
The process for these cases are almost just as long. In the past many of these teachers would be sent to rubber rooms where they would just sit there all day and still collect a salary. Now they are reassigned within the school or other DOE sites.
I considered factoring in criminal misconduct as well but decided to focus on ineffective teachers only since the standard is higher and once the tenure laws are fixed, it’ll impact those who should be fired for misconduct reasons.
Thanks for bringing this up. I will likely add these cases since it’s a much better illustration on the ridiculous protection tenured teachers get.
Thanks Grace,
I definitely agree with you on the issue of Common Core education. I imagine being forced to teach a certain way handcuffs the creative approach of a teacher. Also, I’ve never been a big believer on standardized testing and how it measures a student. I certainly won’t blame a teacher for the low test grades of its students.
If we can change the testing, maybe we should change the way we view ineffectiveness. Instead of grading a teacher by the test scores, we can grade them based on in-classroom observations and a student’s long-term success instead of short-term test results. Outside of my own experience, the only exposure I have to this issue (teachers forced to teach to the test) is Season 4 of The Wire, which as impressive as that was, is not sufficient. I know from personal experience, a good teacher can have long term effects on you. You may not get the high test scores right away but the values and habits you gain from a teacher can benefit you for the rest of your life.
Thanks again for bringing up the curriculum. I haven’t thought about how we’re even going to determine ineffectiveness. If tenure laws do change, we have to properly define what an ineffective teacher is. I wouldn’t want test scores to be the determining factor. I didn’t go to a prestigious high-school but the kids were smart enough and did well enough on these tests that would skew the results in favor of the bad teachers.
Michael, I enjoyed reading your problem memo. Vergara vs. California certainly is a hugely important case in education that will have ramifications in many other states.
I think though that your arguments could be bolstered firstly by showing the harms of having inadequate teachers in the classroom, and illustrate how tenure enforces this harm. While your paper illustrated the issues you have with tenure being a philosophically unjust system, it does not clearly demonstrate how tenure produces any harms. There are many studies showing the negative effects of having a poor teacher a number of years in a row that would be powerful in making your case. Secondly New York has taken many steps in recent years to try ensure the quality of its teachers, including modifying tenure and teacher evaluations. I would encourage you to research New York’s tenure rules and teacher evaluation rules and reference them in your proposal. For starters, you could read:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/nyregion/tenure-granted-to-58-of-eligible-teachers-in-city.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/nyregion/new-evaluation-system-for-new-york-teachers.html
I look forward to reading your proposed solution!
HI Michael,
I enjoyed reading your memo. I think something you did very well was to strike an appropriate tone that allowed you to question the validity of tenure while still conceding some of the other points. I imagine in these types of situations knowing your audience and being respectful is a large part of the responses vary.
I didn’t know about the 3020-a proceeding or the court case in California. I’m sure the teachers union will appeal the decision and I wonder if the Supreme Court will accept the case. Very Interesting!