Stop tenure tyranny and show some love for our hardworking teachers

By Ted Rall

My mother retired recently from teaching under pretty much the best possible working conditions one could expect in an American high school: She taught high school French in an Ohio suburb that is at least 90% white, ranging from middle to upper middle class. By the end of her career, she was relatively decently paid. Her students weren't hobbled by poverty or challenged due to not having mastered English. Since French was an elective, her kids pretty much wanted to be there (though the possibility of having the class cut because of low enrollment was a worry).

Still, it was a tough job. Sure, class was only from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and she got those long summer vacations. But I remember watching her get up at 5:45 a.m. so she could prepare for class during the calm before the morning bell. She rarely got home before 5 p.m. — there was always some meeting to attend — and then she had to grade papers and prepare for the next day's classes.

Teaching is a performance. You've got six to seven hours to fill, keeping the kids entertained and engaged enough to get them to pay attention to what they need to learn. It's exhausting, especially when you were up until 11 the night before correcting tests and averaging grades.

….

Until my mom got tenure, she was afraid of disciplining students. She didn't dare be active in her union. She didn't want to reveal, in a Republican town, that she was a Democrat. Tenure didn't make her lazy after she got it, but it did make her more relaxed, less terrified of her boss. Which made her a better, wiser, smarter teacher.

Tenure doesn't prevent districts from firing teachers. It makes it hard. (Not impossible: 2% of teachers get fired for poor performance annually.) Which, frankly, is something that every worker who has ever experienced an unfair review should be able to empathize with. If anything, the only thing wrong with tenure is that only teachers can get it.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-rall-teacher-tenure-20140205,0,6804342.story