Three Myths About Teacher Tenure

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. This part never went away:

>>>>The push for tenure systems came out of the desire to protect teachers and districts from the politically motivated firings that came with patronage politics.>>>>>

Now the patronage is less what "party" one belongs to than who one's friends are.

Of course, money's a huge factor also. One thing I've noticed here...NYC.... anecdotally, at least: A spike in "incompetence" proceedings vs. people who are closing on on 10 years of service. 10 years marks the point where a teacher is vested in the retirement system and is guaranteed medical benefits for life ( i.e. the same benefit as one would receive after 25+ years of service.)

They've pretty much driven out the 25+ years people, so they appear to be targeting the 7, 8, 9-year teacher demographic.

Despite the data that suggests that that is precisely when one is reaching one's pedagogical peak.

"Cheap-labor capitalism"..... someone on DU called it when I posted on a related topic.

Well, yeah. I guess that's it in a nutshell.