Only 55% of NYC teachers who were in their third probationary
year were approved for tenure this year compared to 89% who were
approved in 2007.
When New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg first came into office, he
promised that, as a service to the city’s students, he would work to end
teacher “tenure as we know it.” If the numbers released by the
Education Department this year are any indication, Bloomberg is well on his way to fulfilling his promise.
Compared to 2007, when nearly 89% of all teachers who completed the
three-year probationary period received tenure, this year saw nearly
half of eligible teachers denied tenure.
Only 55% of three-year veteran teachers were approved for tenure.
Forty-two percent are being kept on probation for an additional year,
while the remaining teachers were fired. The picture isn’t rosy for
those who were held over for another probationary year; of the teachers
whose probation was extended last year, fewer than half were awarded
tenure this year. A third had their probation extended yet again and 16%
were either denied tenure outright, were fired or resigned.
For those who felt that the tenure system was standing in the way of
improving teacher quality, the numbers are proving to be good news. Even
more good news comes from the fact that these changes seem to be simply
one example of a nationwide trend. In NYC and elsewhere, tenure was
once considered automatic, so the idea that it is something that needs
to be earned is welcome to advocates of education reform.
A combination of factors — the education reform movement, slow economies that have pinched spending for new teachers, and federal grant competitions like Race to the Topthat encourage states to change their policies — have led lawmakers to tighten the requirements not only for earning tenure, but for keeping it.
In this change of policy, New York is following the example set by
Idaho, which did away with tenure for new teachers entirely and now
renews contracts for instructors on a yearly basis. This is similar to
the system in place in Florida, where teachers must earn annual
contracts instead of having them automatically renewed.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was instrumental in the rewrite of
one of the oldest teacher tenure laws in the country. When he signed
the state tenure reform law in New Jersey, he gave districts and
principals more flexibility to fire underperforming teachers.
“There has been a sea change in what’s been happening with the teacher tenure laws,” said Kathy Christie, a senior official with the Education Commission of the States, a policy organization funded by state fees and grants. “In 2011 there were 18 state legislatures that addressed some component of teacher tenure and many of them in a significant way, and that is enormous.”
