A vote to end the teacher shuffle

PROPONENTS, most notably Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, have dubbed Proposition 74 the "Put Kids First" act. Opponents call it the "Punish New Teachers" act.

The measure, which will appear on the November special-election ballot, would extend the probationary period for new teachers from two years to five years and would allow districts to fire permanent teachers after they receive two bad performance reviews. Alan Bersin, Schwarzenegger's public-school point man, supports the measure. As a former superintendent of San Diego public schools, Bersin sees the measure as a way to put an end to "the proverbial dance of the lemons."

The first step of the dance comes when administrators realize a teacher isn't cutting it. The "informal bargaining," as Bersin put it, ensues as administrators try to ease a poor teacher out of the classroom. Because it is expensive and difficult to fire an incompetent teacher, administrators shuffle the teacher around. Some teachers quit. Others look for work in other districts. Some agree to be shuffled elsewhere, rather than leave the profession.

"Where do those teachers end up?" said Bersin -- a man who should know. "They end up in the inner city."

That is, the lemons end up teaching the students who need strong teachers the most. This is one reason I plan on voting for Proposition 74. I don't harbor illusions that the measure will transform bad schools into top-performing schools. It's not a panacea. Even if it passes, my guess is that some public-school districts are so mired in inertia that they won't use it to oust incompetent teachers.

The new proposition is a step in the right direction. It is being fought by the union because it is a foot in the door to weakening the union's power and authority in the schools. If the senority system were abolished by this proposition, the union would fight all the more. My experience is in high school, so I will discuss this from that prospective.

A new High School teacher faces many trials. First, they often do not have a home room to stow their stuff. As a new teacher you learn about the "senority system". This system ensures that the older teachers get first pick of any goodies to be had. Since there are usually more teachers than classrooms, some teachers need to move from room to room just like the students. These teachers can be recognized easily as the younger teachers. Having to change rooms means not being as well prepared and often means students are in the classroom a few minutes before the teacher can arrive. I don't need to tell you that this is a critical period for proper discipline. (New teachers usually do not understand the relationship between discipline and good teaching.)

Second, new teachers get to teach the classes that are the least desirable classes. Who teaches bonehead math, pre-biology science? The new teacher. Who teaches the honor classes that are full of kids who are ready willing and able to learn. Why is this difference? Seniority system is used to select classroom, subjects and classes taught, and finally who is fired first if there are layoffs.

Third, teachers become invulnerable to firing after a probationary period. In my day it was two years. If it is raised to 5 years it gives the administration more power and takes power away from the union. But the union won't really care because the union leadership is made up the same teachers who pamper themselves with the seniority system. The main benefit to the schools is that probabionary teachers will have to work hard, take the crummy jobs, and hustle for three more years before they can start to relax into a lifetime job with out the possibility of being fired.

To be sure, my solution for the teacher mess is to allow the school administration to negotiate separately with every teacher each and every year. Teachers would have to prove their worth every year without any approval other than the salary they were able to negotiate.

BTW, I lost my teaching job after ten years due to a layoff and the fact that I still had low senority after ten years. The teaching corp after the layoffs really looked gray haired. But I went back to my engineering job for a considerable increase in salary. I have no problem with proving one's worth daily.

I think these laws have unintended consequences. There are many bad teachers; some of them not tenured, but some of them are. There are two other problems with the schools. One, indifferent or incompetent administrators; and another, weeding out politically incorrect teachers.

Extending probation just gives incompetent administrators that much more time to weed out politically incorrect probationary teachers.

In all probable truth, there aren't that many effective fixes to the problem of public education. It's best defunded entirely and replaced with something different. Tweaking tends to make it worse, not better.

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