Teacher Tenure and Pay Reform

What are your thoughts?

President Obama's call to measure and reward effective teaching has created a Governors' movement across our nation. Teacher tenure has come under fire nation wide due to the policy making it difficult, costly, and near impossible to fire underperforming teachers. States such as, Idaho, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, and Wisconsin have called for the elimination or restructuring of the tenure system. Teachers in both Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, MD have recently signed contract agreements with local school districts loosening tenure provisions in favor of merit pay options.

Missouri legislation, House Bill 628 will change how teachers are paid. Teachers will no longer have tenure and 50 percent of their teacher's evaluation will be based on students' test scores. Teachers will be paid salaries based on one of four tiers. Teachers who are ranked in the top 16 percent based on their district evaluations and students' test scores would be in the first tier. The second tier would cover those ranked from 17 to 34 percent. The third tier would be those ranked from 35 to 67 percent and the rest would fall in the final tier. Teachers in the final and fourth tier would be paid at least $25,000.00 annully.

Michigan is in the process of repealing teacher tenure, limit automatic step pay increases and require public employees to pay 20 to 25 percent of their health care benefit; House Bill 4142 and 4152.

Florida, Senate Bill-6 is similar to Michigan only Govenor Charlie Crist Vetoed the senate bill, so the bill is put on hold for at least another year.

Utah passed House Bill 485 prohibiting an institution of higher education from offering academic tenure.

In Tennessee the House Bill 2012 ties teacher tenure to teacher effectiveness as measured by their evaluation system. It requires a proven track record of excellence in the classroom before an educator can become eligible for tenure.

Idaho passed legislation to phase out tenure for new teachers and to restrict collective bargaining agreements to salaries and benefits. New educators will instead be offered one to two-year contracts following a three year probation period.

Noone can argue that the goal in education should be to promote student achievment and demand for effective teaching in the classrooms. With Obama's "Race to the Top" inntiative and NCLB education act this movement is far from being over. If you currently are not a resident in one of the states mentioned this movement is sure to come your way. So whichever side of the fence you choose to sit, just know that you are witnessing history in the making.