Teacher tenure must go

To cite just one terrible example, a New York City teacher is paid more than $100,000 not to teach. Thank her powerful union.

Brandi Scheiner believes she is a political prisoner. Held against her will in what is euphemistically dubbed a "rubber room," the 56-year-old woman likens her two-year captivity to being imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay. Alas, it's unlikely the Red Cross will hear her case.

She's a New York City public school teacher who, like about 600 fellow NYC teachers, has been removed from the classroom for alleged incompetence or other charges that include being drunk in the classroom or molesting students.

Scheiner, who makes more than $100,000 per year, nonetheless insists she is a prisoner of conscience forced to spend her workdays in the rubber room -- at full pay -- until the system can adjudicate her case. She cannot be fired, at least not without the school district spending gobs on legal fees, because she has tenure

and her union, the United Federation of Teachers, would rather protect 1,000 lousy teachers than let one good teacher be fired unfairly.

So Scheiner and her rubber-roomies report for duty typically from 8:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. every school day and do nothing. They all get the usual vacations, including the entire summer off.

This is from the times? Is there a fight growing in the socialist utopia? It may be that everyone in CA can see the cuts coming. And the politically connected administrators know that since the teachers can't be fired, they are the ones who will be shown the door. This is just setting the stage so that the do-nothing political appointees can try to dump some of the pain on the do-nothing union people. All the pain ends up on the students, but the school admins and teacher's unions don't care about them.

And now we know why America is dying ... or already gone, the America that we all knew and loved.

$100,000 for not working!

Did she think she stole that money straight from the children’s mouths... ?

Probably not.

Oh well.

I agree that tenure must go, with limited exceptions. There were cases many years ago where teachers with long service were simply not rehired when they neared retirement age; that is why tenure was instituted, to protect their careers and pensions.

That is wrong. But once tenure is gained the teacher's performance becomes irrelevant; that is wrong too!

In NY State tenure was placed into law in 1917, long before unions, because teaching was a plum job that found its way into the hands of the controlling politicsal parties. Teachers would be fired to give the job to a party boss's friend or relative. Tenure was designed as a protection.

In NYC principals gave up tenure for higher pay and discovered that their school's performance could get them fired. They began demanding the right to dismiss teachers. In NYC these attempts have, in the main, been directed at senior teachers who usually are resistant to new touchy feely teaching methods. When tenure blocked these actions some principals used charges, sometimes very insignificant charges, to send teachers to these "rubber rooms". The due process language in both the contract and state law make the rubber room a holding cell. The city is often reluctant to start formal proceedings because of the weakness in the case, and the fact that the removal from class can be prolonged without formal charges. My school had a very competent teacher placed in administrative duty in the school because he was outspoken about the shortcomings of the principal. I actually testified as a witness that an incident involving him in my class never happened. (It didn't). Because of that, formal charges were not brought but he was placed on admin duty. He left for another position in the system and is well liked by his boss.

I am no defender of the UFT or of bad teachers, but tenure is the law and as long as it is it should be followed. And no media outlet should rush to judgement about any matter as this without presenting all the facts and letting people make up their minds. If, after that, tenure is changed so be it. That's how democracy is supposed to work.

My mother was a teacher in NYC schools — got no were near that salary — and I can tell you it’s an awful job. My mother was once almost fired because she was accused of racism, years ago, for giving a low grade (in English class) to a black student. The student was a transfer from another school where she had high marks. My mother said she could barely write and stood by her assessment. It turned out that the principal at the other school had inflated all the grades to make his school look good. My mother went through months of hell over this. If there hadn’t been tenure, she would have been fired on the spot.

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