San Jose Mercury News

Prop. 74 takes on teacher tenure
By Dana Hull
October 3, 2005

Gwen Jones just started her second year of teaching at San Jose's Bachrodt Academy. If her principal remains pleased with her work in the classroom, she'll automatically gain permanent status -- or tenure -- at the end of this school year.

But her path to tenure would grow much longer if California voters approve Proposition 74 in the Nov. 8 special election. The controversial initiative, which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger calls the ``Put the Kids First Act,'' would extend the time it takes for teachers to become permanent employees from two to five years -- and make it much easier to fire tenured teachers.

Supporters say the initiative is needed to weed out the ``bad apples'' among the more than 300,000 teachers educating California's 6 million public school students. Opponents warn that extending the tenure track will make new teachers think twice about staying in the profession, exacerbating the state's looming teacher shortage. The Proposition 74 fight has further inflamed the governor's long-running battles with the state's teachers unions.

``I love teaching. I gave my stuffed animals homework when I was a kid,'' said Jones, 26, who arrives at her third-grade classroom at 6 a.m. and regularly works 12-hour days. ``But when you are not permanent, you can be let go without being told the reason why or shown any proof that you did anything wrong. It's nerve-racking. The idea of having to wait five years is discouraging.''

Initiative advocates say that not only is it too easy to get permanent status, but once a teacher makes it over that two-year hump it becomes too difficult to fire them. The state does not track how many teachers are fired. San Jose Unified, with 1,800 teachers, dismisses a handful each year.

Principals and superintendents acknowledge firing a tenured teacher takes a great deal of time, paperwork and careful documentation, not to mention a protracted and often nasty fight with the local teachers union.

Every district has a horror story: It took years for San Francisco Unified to fire a special education teacher who regularly made racist comments and showed his students a stun gun.

``If a teacher rapes a student or walks off with district funds, they can be fired,'' said Bill Evers, a member of the Santa Clara County Board of Education, which has endorsed Proposition 74. The California School Boards Association opposes the measure. ``But it is very hard to fire a teacher for not being successful in getting children to learn.''

Kate Walsh, the executive director of the National Council on Teacher Quality, doesn't think that making it easier to fire teachers is the best way to strengthen the profession. But she agrees that states should extend tenure times.

``Teacher quality is the most important school factor that determines whether a student succeeds or fails. It's more important than class-size reduction or the money spent on a school,'' said Walsh.

In 33 states, including Florida, Texas and New York, the probationary period for new teachers is three years. Many say it takes at least that long for new teachers to learn the ropes and really hit their stride. Only two states -- Indiana and Missouri -- have a five-year probationary period, according to California's Legislative Analyst's Office.

``Two years is not enough time for schools to determine if a new teacher is the right fit in the classroom,'' said Margaret Fortune, an education adviser to Schwarzenegger who is spearheading the Yes on 74 campaign. Generally, teachers keep tenure if they move among schools within a district but must start over again if they change districts.

Others warn that all the fuss over tenure and firing is the least of California's worries. They say the state is on the verge of an enormous teacher shortage, and that Proposition 74 will make teaching a less attractive profession at precisely the time when bright, energetic, committed teachers are most needed.

Nationwide, the K-12 teaching force is aging rapidly, a trend that holds true in the Golden State. In 2003-04, the most recent year for which data is available, 12,300 teachers retired, according to the California State Teachers' Retirement System. That number has steadily risen in recent years as teachers in the baby boom generation reach retirement age.

``California is going to need to replace around 100,000 teachers, or one-third of the workforce, in the next 10 years,'' said Margaret Gaston of the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning in Santa Cruz. ``The message seems to be that we need to get rid of more teachers. The fact is that we need more well-prepared teachers.''

<- Back to Media Clips