States tangle with teacher tenure

by SamCogar Tue Mar 08, 2011 8:04 am

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has been especially outspoken on the issue, leading a handful of states that are seeking to eliminate teacher tenure completely.

“Teaching can no longer be the only profession where you have no rewards for excellence, and no consequences for failure,” Gov. Christie told crowds earlier this year. “Let New Jersey lead the way. The time to eliminate teacher tenure is now.”

Although new public school teachers get tenure after three to five years on the job, National Education Association President Dennis Von Roekel challenges the notion that tenure somehow makes teachers impossible to fire.

But at New York City’s P.S. 65, where teachers still get tenure, principal Daysi Garcia says the current job review process just takes too long.

“It took 40 days of testimony, 5,000 pages of testimony, and cost the city $300,000 to $400,000 in legal fees,” Garcia says. “That's excessive.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41956922/ns/nightly_news/