He is on a year to year contract, so he has to perform his duties in order to have his contract accepted. Due to his number of years with the school system, he is just about assured a yearly job. He has mentioned however, tenure has ruined the dedicated teachers enthusiasm toward their jobs and it shows.
I heard that to pass the FCAT, a student needs only to achieve 40% correct to pass. Can you imagine getting 60% incorrect, and still passing? I'd be embarrassed to admit that one.
When did they lower the level to less then 70% correct?
It's true here in CA, too. CONVICTION of a felony, that's the ONLY way to break their tenure. As a teacher friend of my says, it's Byzantine.
Because they know that many kids aren't going to pass the test and that parents won't support schools where the majority of students fail.
This goes on all over the country, CA and TX especially. TX has been especially clever about misleading parents and taxpayers about test scores. Figures don't lie, but liars figure. Under NCLB schools can close, teachers and administrators can lose their jobs, and students can be transferred if not enough kids pass the big test.
Many states are clever about how they decide if a school is "persistently dangerous" also. I read that in NY, if a girl is raped in a stairwell, that doesn't count unless the perpetrator holds a gun to her head.
School officials, unions, and politicians learn how to play the game very quickly.