It's Not as Simple as Just Getting Rid of the "Worst" Ones – Unfortunately

In: Academic leadership

Abstract

In March 2008, the Center for Union Facts initiated a "contest" in which they pledged "to pay the tenworst "union-protected" teachers in America $10,000 apiece to get out of the classroom." TheAmerican Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association seem to be the real targetsof the program. Edward J. McElroy, former President of the American Federation of Teachers, said,"The misnamed Center for Union Facts, an anti-union front group run by lobbyist Richard Berman, hasannounced the launch of a new "assault" on teachers that will include television and newspaperadvertising." The Center's website talks at length about the difficulty in firing "bad teachers." In additionto telling teachers how to decertify their union, the site includes the statement that "poor-performingtenured teachers are "rarely or never" terminated." Now, two years later director Davis Guggenheimand producer Lesley Chilcott have resurrected the assault on teacher unions and tenure in "Waiting forSuperman." Current AFT President Randi Weingarten (2008) has responded by saying that "thefilm casts several outliers in starring roles-for example, "bad" teachers and teachers unions as thevillains, and charter schools as heroes ready to save the day. The problem is that these caricatures aremore fictional than factual." While disagreeing totally with the campaign and the apparent pretense ofthe documentary, I have found one basic fact to be true – "poor-performing tenured teachers are "rarelyor never" terminated."