TEACHER TENURE: Unconstitutional...

A California judge just ruled that the state “teacher-tenure” laws are unconstitutional and I am very happy to hear that ruling and can only add…about time!

In the past, tenure laws or laws making it practically impossible to fire a teacher (professor) were imposed to protect “academic freedom”.

Professors, who professed views that were disagreed with by school administrations, could not be fired and therefore silenced just because someone in administration disagreed with those views.

In those days, tenure laws had a specific purpose and obtaining tenure was a very long and arduous journey and only professors with proven track records of excellence in teaching were granted tenure.

Tenure laws have since degenerated into basic unionism where teachers (not even professors) could obtain tenure in a matter of a few years making them immune from dismissal and giving them seniority protection in lay-offs or down-sizing. In other words, you don’t have to be a good teacher, you can even be a lousy teacher; if you have tenure you are untouchable; employment for life.

The lawsuit was brought by student advocates who argued that tenure laws reward lousy teachers and prohibit young, good teachers from getting teaching positions. Basically it is like the Catholic Church dealing with pedophilic priests; they just moved them to other districts to keep doing what they have been doing.

I have always maintained that teachers should not serve at the whim of a principal who may or may not be objective when it came to teachers under them; principals can be little twit dictators and so some provisions must be in place to protect teachers and offer them a truly objective evaluation by an impartial body of administrators.

What has happened is that the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction when it comes to tenure laws and now has not only become absurd but has become damaging to student’s educational welfare and wellbeing?

It is like I have been saying all along about unions and that includes teachers’ unions, they had a valid role in the past but have grown into stand-alone entities that are now only concerned about their own survival and aggrandizement and to hell with students.

Judging tenure laws as unconstitutional is a historic moment in our history, one that should spread to other states and to finally revamp teacher employment laws and regulations that will protect good teachers and weed out bad teachers to the betterment of students nationwide.