As teachers and leaders, you want to stay current with developing trends in education. One theme has been a steady attack on teacher tenure. In the 2/1/11 NY Times, they quote Mayor Bloomberg as saying:In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has campaigned aggressively for the state to end “last in, first out” protections for teachers. Warning that thousands of young educators face layoffs, Mr. Bloomberg is demanding that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo scrap the seniority law if the budget he will unveil Tuesday includes state cuts to education.
Based on on this, answer the following questions:
- If Mayor Bloomberg's tenure initiative prevails, what might be the impact on your school?
- What do you think are the advantages/disadvantages (if any) to...the educational system in New York...teachers?
- Is there anything else you would like to add?
I am a tenured New York City teacher. But if one more person says that means I have a “job for life” I might just scream. I taught fourth grade for two years and first grade for one before being granted tenure. I was regularly given formal and informal observations, attended countless professional developments, and regularly met with supervisors and my grade team. Last year I was granted tenure and in all honesty what’s changed? I’m still observed, go to pd, and meet with colleagues. I didn’t gain tenure just by showing up, I worked for it. And I find it insulting when people assume that the minute I was tenured I stopped wanting to work and caring about children.
ReplyDeleteI think tenure is important because it gives you some protection. I am an avid ed-blog reader and am constantly reading about principals all over the city treating teachers unfairly, sending them to the “rubber room” on false charges, and basically abusing their power.It often seems like there is no "checks and balances" when it comes to principals and that can be a bit scary. Although I’m lucky that this is not an issue in my school, that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.
I go back and forth when it comes to “last in, first out”. I know where I work there are about five general education teachers who started after me. As far as seniority, after five years I am still pretty low on the totem pole. It seems like with each budget cut I could possibly be excessed and that’s a scary feeling. Given the option, I think my principal would choose to get rid of some senior teachers rather than someone who is relatively new. With the schools being run like a business, doesn’t it make sense for them to keep the lesser salary? Two new teachers for the price of one senior teacher. But even with my own job being on the line, I think there is value in keeping senior teachers.
I look forward to seeing what everyone else thinks about this.
I am not yet a tenured teacher, but am up for tenure this year. I have also gone through the process of being observed and evaluated, attended and even led professional development, and collaborate with my colleagues, and there is no way my zeal and passion for teaching is going to go stale once I am granted tenure. But it seems that even if I am granted tenure, it is becoming less and less of a protection, especially considering Bloomberg's proposal. A good friend of mine is a 4th grade teacher in California, and has had to face pink slips and potential lay offs throughout her teaching career. Is that going to be the case for NYC school teachers as well?
ReplyDeleteA majority of the teachers in my school are young teachers, and a large percentage of us are untenured. That being said, we are a hardworking bunch of individuals that do not deserve to be excessed because of the seniority law. Yet I also see the great benefit of keeping teachers with seniority, whose years of experience others can benefit from. It is unfortunate that, due to state budget constraints, we need to consider firing teachers at all. It's like saying, "So, should we cut off an arm, or a leg? Which one do you think would hurt less?"
I don't think letting teachers go is ever a good thing, and in the end, it is our students who suffer the most from this kind of policy-making.
Emily,
ReplyDeleteI agree. It is a lot like "cutting off an arm or a leg". That's a great comparison. What do you think about test scores factoring in to tenure?
Caitlin
Emily I am happy to hear that you have led professional development, and collaborate with your colleagues and I also believe that your practice will ony get stronger with tenure. I am a tenure teacher and I think that teachers always have something to worry about, when its not the pressure of tests scores, the deadlines for assessments, layoffs... In my school there are a couple of wonderful teachers that are not tenure yet. these teachers are doing amazing work with our children, and this person who is behind a desk, who if put ahead of a class will not know the first thing to do, is going to say: "you have to go because I say so" I do not think is fair. I think that while all these policies and laws are being implemented no one is paying attention to the effect that all this is having on our children.
ReplyDeleteCaitlin I don"t think that test scores should be a factor for tenure. we have elementary teachers who do not have to deal with tests and this will also mean that teachers will ONLY teach to the test which will leave us with the questions: What are we teaching our kids and how are we preparing them for the real world?
I agree with Caitlin wholeheartedly.Tenured teachers still work hard and I am frustrated by how teachers are portrayed in the media in general.In response to the blog questions and what other bloggers posted,I feel that blasting teacher tenure in the media is really adversely affecting teacher morale. If teacher morale is low, teachers and students feel it.Instead of placing value on experience, the media and politicians have painted experience in a negative light rather than as something valuable that can only serve to continue to get good results from children.Teachers do not get high salaries but there used to at least be the advantage of some job security.There are a lot of new teachers in my school and they all work hard and care about the kids.However they are stressed out about the teacher tenure situation and it is a shame that their experience has to have fear hanging over their heads.They worry every time they are given any feedback because they think it will contribute to the tenure decision.Although it does not yet directly effect my own job stability,it makes me frustrated that the implication is that experienced teachers have nothing to offer children.I think experienced teachers bring their talents to the table and so do newer teachers.Like many things in life, balance is the key.There are some tenured teachers and newer teachers who may have not shown the talent and dedication it takes to be a successful teacher.They should be dealt with on a case by case basis,rather than through changing state laws.Also I think there really is an issue with teacher preparation programs and the types of experiences the teachers get if they appear to be ineffective in their schools.There should be some allowance for a learning curve and things that schools are trying to do to help out teachers they feel are not doing the job as well as they should be.It is difficult for newer teachers to be as effective as they can without some type of mentoring program.I also feel that there is not enough time for effective professional development such as what was outlined in the article we had to read for class last week. There are so many rapid, drastic changes to educational programs and policies that it is hard for anyone to have success at times and perhaps some of this contributes to why experienced teachers are seen as negative things.The media should try instead to help pinpoint where great professional development programs are so that interested schools can participate.The city and state should also consider their budget based on the highly qualified teacher crudential in NCLB.The problems with the expectations and assessments of teachers are much larger than tenure versus no tenure.It is important to make sure students are getting a productive education but it is much easier said than done for teachers of all ages.I really do wish teachers could be focused on needs-based, differentiated, appropriate, fair instruction, rather than having to teach based on the realities of what we are all up against.
ReplyDeleteI am grateful to be among so many hard-working dedicated teachers in the BETLA program.Perhaps we can all organize ways to advocate for better media portrayal of teachers and more appropriate, fair instruction, by the end of our time in the network.We can also propose the idea of professional development and do our best to facilitate that as we branch out into the world of teacher leadership.There is power in numbers!
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about balance a lot. It's true that it needs to be looked at case by case.
The more I thought about laying off teachers I began to wonder how my building could even function with one less teacher. I don't know about you guys but our class sizes are big(too big in my opinion).In 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade there are about 30 students in each class this year. In the lower grades, there are around 25 students in each class. If cuts in education are essential then I really don't think cutting teachers is the answer. It's very difficult to meet the needs of all your students when there are so many students with needs to be met. It seems like your options as a teacher these days are be laid off or have a class of 50!
I am also a tenured teacher. At times, I feel safe because I serve bilingual students and I think I am in teaching position that is in high needs at my school. There are many teachers who were hired after me so I start to think, “My job is secured,” but now I don’t know how safe I am.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I feel that the current teachers are coming into the field with modern teaching practices and will mold the future generation of children to learn in different ways. Yet, I also understand that teachers who have worked many years before me have earned the right to stay at their schools because of their unique experiences. I agree with Emily when she states if “should we cut off an arm or a leg.” This is a hard thing to answer because there are so many factors to take into consideration as we all have mentioned. Teacher layoffs are no joke and I start to wonder, “How will teachers survive in the workforce if laid off?” Nicole, you brought up so many good points on the media and I agree with you. The media does affect how teachers are viewed and we have to effectively work together as teacher leaders to make more positive changes in the education field.
Yudelky
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and Catlin if this keeps up, we as teacher will need to teach to the test. We as teacher will have no choice but to teach to the test. The children will be the one to suffer the consequences of all these insane laws. I am a tenure teacher and that have not stop me from learning new strategies and methodology to better my teaching. It had not stopped me from wanting to grow as a professional. I wish someone will look at the bigger picture and realize that tenure has nothing to do with a quality education. There are a few new teachers at my school and I am sure that we need them. They are working hard and doing their best to meet their children needs. Right now they are feeling frustrated and stressed out. This teacher tenure is a shame. It is not fair that they have to be working and thinking this might be my last year as a teacher. I agree with Nicole each case should be looked as an individual case. In my school we already have a kindergarten class with 27 kids and no paraprofessional. Do you know how hard it is to meet the needs of these children? I also agree with Nicole on the fact that we need to work together as teacher leaders to improve this situation.
Hi all
ReplyDeleteSpeaking about tenure is a difficult and touchy subject. We have to think of all those that have tenure and are not doing their job and those who are doing it, but because they don't have sufficient time on the job might lose it. The DOE and the Union must work on ways to find solutions to this problem. We must be prepared to fight and support a fair and just solution to this phase of education in the city.Hi all
Speaking about tenure is a difficult and touchy subject. We have to think of all those that have tenure and are not doing their job and those who are doing it, but because they don't have sufficient time on the job might lose it. The DOE and the Union must work on ways to find solutions to this problem. We must be prepared to fight and support a fair and just solution to this phase of education in the city.
I actually check the headlines daily on the New York Times website and caught Tuesday’s article on radar. I was immediately drawn to read the full article and discussed it with my colleagues at school. For new and old teachers, tenure is an issue and job security at stake. It seems that tenure is in response to nationwide budget cuts and the ever-present economic crisis.
ReplyDeleteIf Mayor Bloomberg’s tenure initiative prevails, my school will certainly feel the impact. We are a new school and when we opened last year, we were allowed to hire up to 40% of new teachers who were outside the system despite the hiring freeze. This makes small, new schools extremely vulnerable to cuts. My principal tries to have an equal balance of hiring 1/3 new teachers, 1/3 3-10, 1/3 10+ years of experience. We are a small school with a small staff including many new teachers, we can’t afford to lose any teachers no matter if they were “the first in” or have tenure. We act as a team and need every member. Last year, during the wave of layoffs where the Mayor threatened to cut 4,400 teachers and then UFT stepped in and the jobs were ”saved” while the Mayor looked like a “hero” when he didn’t even truly earn the title. My principal stepped up and advocated for her staff. She wrote a letter to the chancellor, and was interviewed by the New York Times in an article entitled, “New N.Y. Schools Face Extra Pain From Layoffs” published in June 2010. Here are her thoughts, “Kristin Erat, the principal of Grant Avenue Elementary School in the Bronx, personally scoured roughly 2,000 résumés to fill 12 positions. ‘We really thought we selected an all-star team — to lose that now would be absolutely devastating,’ she said. ‘It would be like asking if one of your siblings disappeared, would your family be the same.’ In response, I am fortunate to work in a school where my principal is a leader who values her team as if they were part of her close family. However, this does not shield any of our team from budget cuts. I agree with Caitlin who mentioned that the thought that teachers can and will be excessed with each budget cut is unnerving and scary. Where is our contract? Where is our job security? How often can the UFT step in and how many can they save? Where is our protection? It seems that tenure is in question and that this tradition will no longer offer this job security. Schools will become less welcoming and more threatening where everyone is anxious and this will not be a positive learning or teaching environment. The face of education and the culture of learning in a positive, welcoming atmosphere will change.
I think the advantage of tenure is that it rewards teachers who have been dedicated to the profession by offering some job security but in this economy, there is no way to know if the security is real. Across all professions, people are losing jobs. There is not one field that isn’t hurting. However, budget cuts are not an excuse to cut people regardless of talent no matter if you recently joined the profession or have a wealth of experience.
The disadvantage is that tenure keeps ineffective teachers cycling through the system. I agree with Nicole that these teachers should be handled on an individual basis and I think that tenure requirements should be altered and refined to fit modern times, not simply dismissed completely. As it stands, It only takes 3 years to obtain tenure and in many cases it takes those same 3 years for a teacher to hone their skills and gain confidence, meaning it takes 3 years for that once first year teacher to begin to feel less like a beginner. As we all know, educators are praised for being reflective practitioners and lifelong learners. As a community of educators, we strive to improve and refine our practice.
ReplyDeleteAs it stands, the Department of Education is not always clear of what their own expectations are and the information is somewhat ambiguous. Sometimes I feel like the DOE is like a big department store where you ask a question and the salesperson or DOE will send you in the general direction of “over there” pointing to the opposite side of the store and then when you get there, the item can’t be found and you are dumbfounded and lost. The DOE is filled with ambiguity and it makes it difficult for teachers to align ourselves with an ambiguous system. My opinion is that changes need to be made to the system and specifically in regards to tenure; the requirements need to reflect the times through modifications of the basic requirements. I haven’t quite thought it through yet, but maybe tenure should be incremental and have incentives built in as natural motivators. Any ideas?
Among the negative opinions that were voiced in the article at hand that were made by several governors, the president of the NEA spoke up and made a valid point. He said the following: “Why aren’t governors standing up and saying, ‘In our state, we’ll devise a system where nobody will ever get into a classroom who isn’t competent’?” said Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association. “Instead they are saying, ‘Let’s make it easy to fire teachers.’ That’s the wrong goal.” I agree with Mr. Roekel in that he is alluding to a very core issue, the governors are attacking the wrong issue and their goals are all wrong. Politicians are placing the blame on the teachers not the system itself. I agree with Nicole in that the issues are far larger than tenure or no tenure. Teacher training institutions should be reevaluated to include more practical tools and it is critical to reframe the approach to “fixing” education. The blame should not only rest on the teacher’s shoulders but should be assumed as a collective responsibility. The mentality and media’s portrayal of education must complete a 360 degree shift from failure to success.
I invite you to consider the following point. Just as if a student is failing, promotion in doubt, or misbehaving, these are all recognizable to the trained educator’s eye that this is really a call for help. Teachers would never label the student as failing and simply abandon him completely. An effective teacher would respond by showing that he or she cares, figure out the strengths of the child, consider how to teach this child differently, and give him the tools he or she needs to move forward and be successful. This supportive approach should be (but isn’t) implemented with teachers and schools that are underperforming.
ReplyDeleteTeachers and schools should not be waiting to be placed on the butchering block or waiting for the next wave of layoffs to come just like the “final solution.” I agree with Nicole in asking, “how are teachers going to survive in the workforce if they are excessed.” We are trained to be teachers and now are being asked to do something perhaps outside of our trained skill set. These teachers and schools in turn should be supported, new goals should be set, strengths should be acknowledged, and most importantly, they should be given the tools to be successful. The DOE is scrutinizing teacher’s performance and closing schools left and right. When they close one school down, they remodel it with a brand new name. This is much like how a landlord might remodel a kitchen by putting in new Formica cabinets and a dishwasher and call it a renovation when really it is a cheap solution. Instead, granite countertops would be a true, quality upgrade. This analogy is fitting because the DOE is putting a shiny new band-aid on an open wound when in fact, they are not answering the cry for help by providing the tool set, scaffolds, and supports that schools truly need to upgrade performance. This is a bad cycle already and like all cycles, there must be a force to stop the patterns that are not working.
On the one hand, I am happy that education is on the forefront, is on the political agenda, and a part of our national conscience. On the other hand, the implications of policy makers on education are not always positive and do not always have the students’ best interest in mind. In his State of the Union Address, Obama spoke about teachers as Nation Builders. I interpret this to mean that he believes in the capacity of educators. In his speech, Obama is calling the young people in our nation to mobilize and enter the field of education to teach science among other content areas. However, currently, the profession is not friendly to new teachers and dismissing tenure altogether may act as a deterrent in opposition to his goal of strengthening our education system and giving the children the best possible opportunities to learn and be successful in modern America. In line with Obama’s trademark slogan, this is a call for change.
The subject of tenure seems to be a very touchy one. I am a tenured teacher but it doesn’t make me feel secure about my job security. With so much talk about holding teachers accountable for the progress of their students, job stability is not guaranteed to anyone.
ReplyDeleteAs teachers, we work very hard to give our students the best education possible; we stay late after school and take work home to prepare ourselves for the challenges facing us everyday only to be told that are efforts are not enough that our students’ successes or failures are our total responsibility.
Senior teachers have a lot of experience behind them and therefore are filled with knowledge and skills that are essential to the students’ progress and success. The many changes and new initiatives have been difficult for them but that does not mean that they are not effective teacher.
“Last in, first out” is an unfortunate plight on new teachers because some of our best teachers are the new ones. They come in full of enthusiasms and energy and full of new and innovative ideas. Senior or new all teachers have great things to offer.
It is a sad thing that Bloomberg’s budget cuts include letting go of thousands of teachers. Teachers are not in it for the money they are in the profession because of their love for the students. Ultimately the ones that will suffer the greatest loss will be the students.
Hello everyone,
ReplyDeleteThis is a touchy subject. I see a lot of hard working tenured teachers at my school.They put a lot of energy and love into their lessons. I see how hard they work to develop and improve the skills of the students. They are willing to help and mentor the new teachers, but there are also those who I think the time has come for them to retire. We only have two new teachers at our school and I am concerned about them.They are hard working individuals. The kids are learning a great deal from them. I agree with all of you, this situation should be dealt with on an individual basis. It shouldn't be based on the results of the ELA or the math test because the lower grades don't get assessed this way. I also don't want to teach based on what's on the test. I want my students leaving my class feeling confident and ready to face the next grade. My heart goes out to you guys who have more than 25 students in your class.At the moment I have 25 students and I thought that was a lot. I didn't realized how lucky I was. I don't understand how the mayor can't see the bigger picture. I would like to see him teach a room full of 30 kids and be assessed based on their scores. I wonder what he'll say then. I guess we have to start speaking up and planning better ways of dealing with this issue.
Here are a few additional questions, should you wish to respond:
ReplyDelete- would the union still exist (or exist in its current form) if there were no teacher tenure?
- what would teaching look like without a union?
- does any group benefit from "scapegoating" and/or demoralizing teachers?
- is money (i.e., budgetary considerations) the only issue?
If the Mayor's initiative prevails, my school would have to face deep cuts in teachers. Now, if he gets what he wants and scraps seniority rules, the principal at my school will face the question as to who goes first. Seniority rules were considered into our teacher union contract a while ago because principals back then were biased and let good teachers go if they were whistle-blowers or just plain didn't like you. The seniority rules protected good teachers from being let go. There are a lot of studies that have been done that prove that teachers who have more than 5 years experience in fact are more effective teachers than those who are new to the system. That does not negate the fact that there are many new teachers who have taught less than five years that are indeed effective.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking to some teachers in my school who are not yet tenured, some agree with the seniority rules and some disagree. It is a polarizing issue. One teacher who was in favor of the seniority rules told me that she would just go back to living with her parents if she were to be laid off. She also understands that most senior teachers have children to take care of and she is yet to be married. In the long run she said that seniority rules would be better for the system and the students.
On the other hand, there was another teacher in my school who is also not tenured and said that she was dissatisfied with what the union has been pushing (seniority rules) because she has gone to professional development, gets regularly observed and mentored, and also has an impact on the grade by collaborating ideas and resources.
I am a tenured teacher and I don't feel like there is job security in the system. The way the ball is rolling right now under Bloomberg and Black, they want to conquer and divide the teacher union members to get more charter schools in the system. They (Bloomberg and Klein) boasted their test results for many years, yet they were having so many schools closed at PEP meetings. What success do they see in that? It finally caught up with them last year when test results in ELA and Math plummeted citywide.
Going back to charter schools. Obama has been promoting the "Race to the Top" initiative which calls for more charter schools and new and innovative teaching ideas. All of the states are competing for millions of dollars for their students. But, they must increase the number of charter schools and have some type of teacher evaluation system linked to their class' test scores. We all know that the test scores are inaccurate and are an invalid assessment of children and teachers. Now, charter schools have also boasted that they indeed outperform public schools and that is not the case. They do just the same as public schools and a very few in the city actually do a little better than those in the same neighborhood. So, the goal of the Mayor, Chancellor, Governor, and President are to I think get rid of teacher unions to save the city, state, and country money. Now the Mayor has said he wants to cut pensions, increase the teacher retirement age, and cut health benefits.
A solution to saving money for the city might be offering great retirement plans and incentives to teachers who can actually retire now. Don't get me wrong, there are teachers in the system who are not as effective as they used to be and need to consider retiring. There are also some who are highly effective leaders in their school building and have a lot to offer younger teachers.
ReplyDeleteI think if seniority rules were scrapped, as the politicians want, the union would be "dead." There is a teacher in my school who is part of the GEM-Grassroots Educational Movement. They are part of the union but are fed up with them not sticking up for their members during key decisions. They attend all PEP's and also organize independent rallies and have also produced a counter-attack to the movie, "Waiting for Superman." I think we as a union need to do more and organize the same way. We need to really educate parents on the reality of the matter and not listen to the what the politicians are saying because they are not being honest. The parents can be a big force in our union and school system. They have not had any voice since this Mayor took over in 2001. But that is another topic.
Right now, Bill Gates and Walmart are funding these movements against teachers. Their goal is to divide the unions.
I agree Lucy. I’d love to see the mayor teach my class for the day! Unfortunately I don’t think he will ever see the bigger picture. The big picture for him is saving money at the expense of children. How else can you explain him appointing a Chancellor with no background in education?
ReplyDeleteMartin, I’ve also heard about the Grassroots Educational Movement. I actually started reading their blog during UFT elections. I really respect what they are trying to do. I agree that our union has to do more. I hope that the constant negative press brings about this mobilization of teachers.
I often wonder if the economy had not taken such a dive, would politicians be focusing so much on education?