Letter: Tenure no free ticket

While I recognize that the editorial page is a place to express opinions rather than facts, we can hope that the writer of a letter to the editor would at least do a little cursory research. Case in point: Edward Daigle’s letter which appeared March 13.

In it he blames the current state of public education entirely on the tenure system. He claims that “forty or fifty years ago, the United States was leading the world educationally” and that “now children coming out of our public school system rank with some Third World countries.”

Well 10 minutes of research later and I found out that in the mid-1950s, over 80 percent of public school teachers had tenure, according to procon.org. Today, only 2.3 million of America’s 7.2 million teachers (2010 census) have tenure. Now my math my only be Third-World quality, but I’m pretty sure that 32 percent is less than 80 percent.

And where does he get the idea that teachers can “do whatever they want and get away with it”? How many principals has Daigle spoken to about this? How many schools has he visited?

Speaking as a teacher myself, I know I am held to the highest standards of professionalism. We demand the best from ourselves and our students. No sir, I’m afraid that moderate job security (tenure) does not equal poor student performance. I have a sneaking suspicion that solving a problem involving millions of children of all different ages, backgrounds and ability spread out across 50 states is a bit more complicated.

Keith James

music teacher

Baton Rouge

Comments

1) Comment by Bouncer - 22/03/2013

@Being_Stupid.....do everyone a favor and go jump off a bridge somewhere. You're just an idiot.

2) Comment by Being_Stupid - 20/03/2013

@teacherguy: The unions have persuaded teachers that vouchers will hurt them. On the contrary, teachers would be among the main beneficiaries. A little more than slightly half the tax money spent on government schools goes to the classroom. Almost half goes to administrators, bureaucrats, and the like. In private schools, a much larger fraction goes to the classroom. In addition, we know that working conditions are much more attractive in private schools. Despite lower average wages, the turnover rate [among teachers, perhaps not bureaucrat micromanagers] is much lower in private schools than it is in government schools.

3) Comment by Being_Stupid - 20/03/2013

@JR Madd: The Leacher's Union has a Government Monopoly on our tax money used to fund public education. That tax money should be given to the consumer (parents and students) of education, not guaranteed to the producers (government bureacrats, union bosses, union workers, etc.) of education regardless of their performance. The consumer has no choice. Subsidizing the producer is the wrong way to provide public education because it creates a top-down organization, which is very inefficient. The better way is to subsidize the consumer, which is what vouchers do.

4) Comment by teacherguy - 20/03/2013

Well said, Traveler...to "Stupid"...the reason I teach is because my family values are to reach out to the lesser of us and by increasing their lot in life, we thereby increase our value on this earth. Most teachers are in it for the humanitarian outreach of dealing with children, the ignorant, the poor, etc. This is why we gripe about wanting better pay, (even Les Miles asked for more money recently)...but crawl out of bed and fight the forces that would hold a child down daily. This is why we take offense to being verbally abused...and why we fight to protect our jobs in the face of those that would retaliate against us because we wrote them up for chewing gum. And it is something THAT small that can put us on the ropes...males, specifically. Without some kind of protection...the groups that live to provide such humanitarian aid will grow smaller and smaller out of self-preservation. Ever notice that the people lining up for jobs like police officers, teachers, children social workers, etc. are getting slimmer and slimmer...tenure and the due process it requires is ONE of the few reasons the teacher "pile" has been able to attract people.

5) Comment by J.R.Madden - 20/03/2013

Being_Stupid wrote: "... a Government Monopolized School System does not work and will never work." ONE: Where is the "Monopolized" part if we have private, parochial, and homeschooling available? TWO: In the late 1700s, Thomas Paine was one of the earliest in favor of universal, free public education -- a radical idea at the time -- the first U.S. liberal, I guess. Prior to that time, only those who could pay could be educated. It was in the U.S. that education was introduced as free (universal education) during the late 1800s. It had spread across the country by the 1920s. So, Universal Education has been around less than 100 years and it has been in operation the longest in the U.S. Curse those liberals ... everyone knows, in the age of computers, we need lots of ditchdiggers, hod carriers and plow boys for the economy to thrive.

6) Comment by J.R.Madden - 20/03/2013

****Comment Removed for Violation of Terms of Use****

7) Comment by Traveler - 20/03/2013

To "Stupid" (your word, not mine): You would be right if we all lived in an elitist world in which the prudent and the wise could be completely separated/isolated from the prodigals. However, we all occupy the same planet (and closer to home, we all occupy the same state). You ask, "Why would any teacher want to teach in a school with [horrible] conditions?" Here's why: it is in my (and your) best interests to reprove/educate the errant and strive to motivate them to a higher standard of life. Otherwise, our streets will not be safe, new industry will not be attracted to a place where there is no skilled labor force, and our local culture will be bereft of quality. It is not the traditional public school systems that are failures----it is some parents/families that are failing. Either we can abandon the children of those failed parents or we can show them a better way. By isolating children who, through no fault of their own, know only indifference/hostility to learning, we would perpetuate and strengthen a subculture of poverty and crime. We must be a part of the solution that turns those young lives around. Private schools are just a new form of segregation. It is those who want education the least who need it the most.

8) Comment by Being_Stupid - 20/03/2013

An education system based on vouchers would minimize inefficient government spending while giving low-income Americans, who are traditionally stuck in the very worst public schools, a better chance at receiving a good education. Vouchers will bring a healthy increase in the variety of educational institutions available and create competition amongst them. The answer is simple economics, choice, and competition. The tax money for public education needs to be given to the consumer of education, not the producer of education. Only the consumer of education can ensure quality performance for their voucher, much like a consumer on food stamps or food vouchers ensures quality product from a private grocery. Note, the Government does not fund public grocery stores. Government only funds food stamps or food vouchers and leaves it up to the low income consumer to ensure quality product from that private grocery via their government food stamp. See www.edchoice.org.

9) Comment by Being_Stupid - 20/03/2013

I want to thank spqr and Traveler for making my point of why the current school system is a toal failure and why a Government Monopolized School System does not work and will never work. Why would any teacher want to teach in a school with those kind of conditions? Which is why we need to convert to voucher system, so both students and teachers have better options in Private Schools. Don't want to learn, no problem, we will send you to a Government School where you don't have to learn. But for those that want to learn, there should be better options. Only private schools can provide those better options.

10) Comment by Traveler - 20/03/2013

To the person who names himself "Stupid": let me tell you a true story. Several years ago, in a nearby Southern state, I knew of a case in which a male teacher was accused by a female minor of inappropriate contact with her. In pre-tenure days, the male teacher----innocent or guilty----would simply have been fired, in order for the school system to avoid further trouble. Because the male teacher in this case had tenure, his employer placed him on "administrative leave" (leave with pay, because he was presumed innocent under the law until found guilty) while police officers investigated. It took several weeks, but finally the girl confessed that she had made up the entire tale, in order to gain sympathy from her own mother, with whom she was in conflict. The male teacher was restored to his position, sadder and poorer (because he had retained an attorney). This is one of literally thousands of situations that occur annually in school systems, where educators are vulnerable to the emotional whims of children who have limited coping skills. {By the way, the male teacher completed the school year and then resigned, saying that teaching has become so risky for males that he was getting out. He's now making three times his former salary in his job in the private sector.] [And guess what? No punitive measures were taken against the female student by the school.] As for the name you have given yourself, well......you know yourself better than we do.

11) Comment by spqr - 20/03/2013

I agree with "BeingStupid"...things have changed. Why should a teacher want tenure in this violent, apathetic culture? Many of our students in the inner city are gangsters or gangster want-to-bes. Too many of our "children" walk the hallways pregnant, Many of our students have been to juvenile detention or jail and too many are felons or even homeless. School fighting is common and assaulting or verbally abusing authority are fashionable, Yes, things have changed when the arouma in the hallway is a mixture of cheap perfume and marijuana. Things have changed to the point where we EXPECT teachers to handle the job of policeman, parole officer, mother, counselor, judge and jury, coach, fundraiser, custodian, bouncer, sociologist, psychologist, club sponsor, and scapegoat for a corrupt governor and highly inexperienced state superintendent while their pay is cut three consecutive years? What a bunch of babies! Why should some of the best educated in society, our teachers, want protection from a sick education "reform" growing more chaotic each legislative session?

12) Comment by [e-mail] - 20/03/2013

Tenure is indeed a part of the problem as it is practiced in todays public school system; the whole system is rotten, rife with hypocrisy, fraud, and charlatans grabbing all the money then can. It bears no resemblance to dedicated professionals educating students, instead it is dedicated professionals stampeding to the trough and gorging on taxpayer money all the while they shed crocodile tears. The whole thing is like a decrepit old garden shed; turn on the lights and roaches run everywhere. They won't leave on their own, they must be swept out;

13) Comment by Being_Stupid - 20/03/2013

Tenure = Free Ticket

14) Comment by Being_Stupid - 20/03/2013

The year in 2013, not 1950. Things have changed.

15) Comment by Being_Stupid - 20/03/2013

Tenure = Money for Nothing

16) Comment by SuzanneMS - 20/03/2013

The reason that many people in Louisiana oppose tenure is that they are in such a vulnerable position themselves on their job. In a right-to-be-fired state such as Louisiana, where unions are impotent, they lack even the most basic of job protections. Rather than fight for their own rights to due process and job security, they want to reduce teachers' rights. A sort of "crab mentality," where, rather than trying to escape the bucket yourself, you pull down those who are trying to get out.

17) Comment by CountryBoysCanSurvive - 20/03/2013

@ teacherguy Well said, and thank you for your service.

18) Comment by teacherguy - 19/03/2013

I don't know, Keith...I've hiding behind my tenure as a two time school teacher of the year, perfect attendance awards, department chair going on 5 years now, football coaching duties, grade level chair two years, class field trip organizer, providing lessons/assessments that prove their standardized testing results, reliable duty monitor, grant writer, buy many of my own classroom supplies, etc. It seems because I want to be assured of due process before I can be fired if one of my students/coworkers/administrators files an unfounded grievance against me...it makes me some sort of lazy, entitled, leech on society. I will admit that there are some teachers that deserve firing, but there aren't a lot of more qualified people breaking the doors down to take their jobs.