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Tenure Elimination In Detail. In The First Essay

¶ … tenure elimination in detail. In the first part of the essay, I have given explanation regarding tenure and why it is rewarded to teachers. Later, I have discussed the benefits and drawbacks of eliminating tenure for public school teachers. Just as any other profession is in need of job security, the profession of teaching also wants the same. And it is the vehicle of tenure that is the only way to provide them with this kind of security. A teacher's status is represented by the tenure that helps him/her to secure a permanent position in a school district's faculty. The state law is responsible for granting tenure and every state has its own type and amount of protection that it provides to the teachers. The school board has the authority to award tenures to the individuals who become successful in completing a probationary period. This allowance gives about two to three years increase to the teachers to stay at their positions and continue serving. The main objective of tenure is to give job protection to the teachers. However, a number of states have agreed to eliminate tenure for the reduction of troubles that hinder the termination of firing inefficient and incompetent teachers (Martin & Loomis, 2007). Although tenure's development was originally for the insulation of workforce from unwarranted and unjustifiable political forces and for increasing the attractiveness of the job, tenure is usually awarded to teachers who do not deserve it at all (Hassel, Kowal, Ableidinger & Hassel, 2011).

Thus, the proponents of tenure elimination are of the opinion that such an act must be made unlawful in order to make teaching a respectful and performance-based profession. These advocates believe that tenure provisions must be removed from state laws so that local districts can be given the authority to manage their teaching and leadership force in the most efficient manners thus making decisions that are for the betterment of the students' future. The tenure protection is also necessary to eliminate so that the dismissal of incompetent teachers be made an easier job for school districts. Moreover, elimination of tenure may also be advantageous in raising the teachers' quality and securing the best interests of the students' education (Martin & Loomis, 2007).

In the contemporary world, the tenure provided to teachers has turned out to be a divisive issue that sparks disagreement on both it's for and against sides. In the present times, it is one of the biggest issues that whether protection by tenure should be given to the public school teachers or not. There are two sides that argue regarding the continuation of tenure and elimination of tenure. A majortiy of people regard tenure as a good proposal for teachers due to a number of factors. It means that they consider elimination of tenure as something that could have drawbacks for the teaching profession. Tenure supporters make the argument that this "system protects experienced, and therefore more well-paid, teachers from being displaced by newer, cheaper teachers" ("Should Teachers Get Tenure? Some Educators Don't Think So").

Firstly, tenure is meant for the protection and safeguard of teachers being fired due to private and political reasons. One of the most important aspects of teacher tenure is that teachers cannot be fired easily. Tenure makes firing of teachers a process that is rather difficult and expensive to carry out. A school administrator loses his/her right to fire a tenured teacher. Instead, the firing turns out to be a complex process involving the filing of charges against the tenured teacher, submission of evaluations and holding of hearings. According to a number of teachers, tenure must not be eliminated as it provides them job security and restricts administrators to take undue advantage of their position and fire teachers on the basis of prejudice or domestic politics.

Secondly, it is also important to understand that tenure can allow teachers to become independent and feel free to explore causes that may raise controversies. A good number of people support the significance of tenure for teachers as they can easily dig down into the topics that are not discussed traditionally. Tenure, thus, allows the teachers to freely support his/her students to research and mull over the controversial societal issues. Thirdly, elimination of tenure may inhibit teachers' motivation and desire to acquire tenure and they may stop working harder to get approval from the administration (Phillips, 2009).

It can be said that tenure is awarded to teachers so that they...

If tenure is eliminated, the system would fail in getting the attention of the eligible, competent and bright teachers to teach students. In other words, elimination of tenure may result in the revival of past abuses and bad practices by the authoritative figures that have the power of replacing the experienced teachers in favor of the new ones who are given less remuneration or those who are given the jobs due to preferential treatment.
It is agreed by many that the elimination of tenure has drawbacks as the awarding of tenure makes the ability of an institution enhanced "to attract and retain the most effective faculty members, especially since it also represents an institutional commitment to provide support for quality instruction and scholarship" (Dimaria, 2012). Eliminating tenure cannot improve the effectiveness of the teacher. Rather, the loyalty and morale of the teachers may get affected by the elimination of tenure (Waddell, 2012).

Those who oppose tenure and want to get it eliminated have a number of reasons in considering it a bad practice. It means that elimination of tenure can bring significant positive changes in the current system. Tenure is opposed by a majority of people for the main reason that it makes it rather a difficult task to fire the bad and inefficient teachers out of the school system. Thus, it can be said that tenure is liked and disliked by many for the same reason i.e. If a teacher gets the advantage of being tenured; it turns out to be a very lengthy and expensive process to remove him/her out of the classroom. Secondly, tenure law must be eliminated in the best interest of the children and their future. Tenure is mainly criticized because of its system of designation that provides more protection to the teachers instead of safeguarding the interests of the students. Once a teacher gets secured by tenure, he/she feels that there is no need of working hard as they cannot be fired by anyone. It is necessary to eliminate tenure due to such drawbacks as it requires huge sums of money that could otherwise be spent on acquiring resources for conducting student-based activities.

Elimination of the tenure system is considered important as it has serious consequences and damaging outcomes for the students' academics. This is because tenure provides protection even to those unskilled teachers who are totally incapable of instructing students and therefore make students suffering all over the year. It is unfortunate that such incompetent teachers are not fired as they are protected by the tenure. Thus, elimination of tenure can prove to be a beneficial step towards raising the academic quality and student performance. The critics of tenure regard elimination of this system as significantly essential for the educational preparedness of students. This is vital and must not be taken as an issue that can be ignored for a long period of time.

Most importantly, tenure gives the profession of teaching a bad reputation. This is the reason why it is really important to eliminate this system of unfair rewarding. Even the teachers who have the tenure benefits regard it as bad as tenure gives this respectable profession a bad status. As it is not an untold secret that the tenure system is advantageous even for the teachers who know nothing about teaching, teachers are usually acknowledged as being indolent and unconstrained by the society. Thus, elimination of tenure can be beneficial as it can wash away the bad name and dishonor of the teaching profession.

It is also important to mention here that tenure costs greatly for both children and national economy. Tenure has also faced failure as a tool for the women's rights. Tenure has been combined with pay increase in an automatic way. Thus, most of the teachers who have been locked up by the tenure system are paid equally as those who are better than them as far as professionalism and competency is concerned. Elimination of tenure would mean that the bests are paid more than the less effective teachers. According to research, student performance is also dependent on tenure especially for those students who are admitted late in the school. They can only catch up if they have effective teachers instead of having incompetent ones who do not possess enough skills to help students achieve their goals. Elimination of tenure is therefore essential for being a magnet for the best teachers and t keep them for the betterment of students. At the same…

Sources used in this document:
References

Dimaria, F. (2012). Tenure and America's Community Colleges. Education Digest, 78(1), 44-47.

Martin, D.J., & Loomis, K.S. (2007).Building Teachers: A Constructivist Approach to Introducing Education. Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning Inc..

Hassel, E.A., Kowal, J., Ableidinger, J., & Hassel, B.C. (2011). Teacher Tenure Reform: Applying Lessons from the Civil Service and Higher Education. Public Impact. Chapel Hill: NC.

Holden, C. (1997). Tenure Turmoil Sparks Reform. Science, 276 (5309), 24.
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