Conversation and Controversy on Tenure

The national teacher tenure debate has been reignited with this week’s TIME magazine cover featuring the title “Rotten Apples—It is nearly impossible to fire a bad teacher.” The cover is stimulating significant pushback from educators and fueling ongoing and related conversations about teacher evaluations and the controversy over using student test scores in educator assessments. Read the article here.

The article comes on the heels of the contentious Vergara v. California (2014) verdict, which deemed teacher tenure laws unconstitutional in California. It provides additional background information on the players and actions that led to the Vergara case, the degree to which the case has become a factor in California’s state elections, and the ripple effects it’s creating in other states (like New York) facing the prospect of similar suits.

While some observers have commented on the balanced nature of the magazine’s main article, educators and policymakers alike have lambasted the cover art. A national petition against the cover has received over 50,000 signatures, and TIME has since invited critics to respond. See prominent responses, including one from California Rep. George Miller (D-CA).

The ongoing debate highlights the need for any conversation about teacher effectiveness to acknowledge that educators must be evaluated fairly, using multiple measures, and provided with high-quality professional development that helps them improve their practice. It also calls for educators to be respected as professionals and actively included in the national discussion about strengthening the profession. See ASCD’s 2014 Legislative Agenda (PDF) for recommendations on multimetric accountability (PDF) and educator effectiveness (PDF).