Fixing Education--Start With Tenure

All this week, NBC and their affiliate networks (including MSNBC) are focusing on education: where we are, the magnitude of our public system’s shortcomings—and what we can do. I applaud them for taking the initiative. Just the discussion alone will elevate education to the priority level it deserves.

One aspect of the education system that has come under fire is the whole notion of tenure. In essence, a teacher with a certain number of years invested in a particular school or school system becomes tenured. The bottom line is that this practice safeguards the job of the teacher---for the life of their career in most cases.

Tenure is most certainly part of the problem with our schools.

Coming from the so-called “private sector”, in my world there is no such thing as “tenure”. The only job security you have is your own performance. Every day, those in the business world must continually have their “game face” on, ready to compete for customers, for dollars, for sustained business.

Not so in academia—especially at the college level, where I hear firsthand reports of rampant laziness, lesson plans that haven’t been changed in years and requests granted for “sabbaticals”.

Really?

A sabbatical? Of course, to perform RESEARCH. To publish that research in a trade journal. To FIND YOURSELF.

Do this is the business world and the only place you’ll “find yourself” is in the unemployment line.

Tenure is a system with absolutely ZERO benefits for the customer of education-namely the students. It breeds laziness, allows teachers to “coast” and costs our entire education system dearly. Great for teachers and teachers unions, but not so great for our kids.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m not against teachers. In fact, I believe that teachers represent the most important profession there is. I also believe that most teachers are committed and desire the very best for our kids. However, I believe in things that most teachers would likely rebel against vehemently.

I have no qualifications whatsoever to evaluate our education system, other than the observations of a father with three kids, two of whom are in college and one who is in the fifth grade. A combined 36 years or so of seeing how things work.

So, how would I fix education?

Here’s my list, starting with the subject of this blog:


1) ELIMINATE TENURE- If you are good, you should be rewarded with ever increasing pay and benefits. If you are marginal or lazy or not capable of keeping up with advancements in educational practices, you are GONE. Goodbye and good luck. The future of our kids cannot depend on you.

2) MAKE TEACHING A YEAR ROUND JOB- Teachers have long complained about low pay (which may be true), but those of us with 12 month a year jobs counter that the pay teachers receive (low or not) is for a 9 or 10 month year (also true) I propose that teaching becomes a YEAR ROUND profession, regardless of the length of the school year. What do teachers do when the kids are on vacation? How about professional development sessions, strategic and lesson-planning workshops and other activities that will enhance their credentials?

3) EXPAND THE SCHOOL YEAR- Related to #2 above, but most advanced countries have school years that are longer and in some places, year round. I say that not only should we expand the school year to be September through June. Summer would be an 8 week period—July and August and standardized nationally.

4) MAKE SCHOOL DAYS COUNT- There are way too many school days where actual learning simply does not happen. Take your child’s already sparse school year and then start subtracting. Take away all the vacation weeks, all the “teacher workshop” days, the “half days”, the “early release” days, the school assemblies and all the other extraneous activities that are not directly related to learning. You will be SHOCKED.

5) INCREASE TEACHERS, DECREASE ADMINISTRATORS- Too many chiefs and not enough Indians, as it were. Too many dollars in our school system are diverted to overpaid superintendents, administrators and bureaucratic positions that are not directly related to teaching children. In Maine, enrollments have actually DECREASED, but the hiring of administrative staff has INCREASED. How does this make sense?

6) RAISE STANDARDS-Kids will raise their game to our expectations—lowering those standards in order to “look good” in comparison to other schools is a disservice to the students. The world they are living in and the working world in which they will enter is increasingly competitive and complex. The skills needed to navigate and excel in this world dictate that we demand more, not less of our kids.


The best way to evaluate what can be accomplished is to look at a school where things ARE being accomplished.

Case in point: Urban Prep Academy in Chicago, which just graduated 100% of its students—young black men, 97% of whom were living under the poverty level. Each of the graduates were accepted into a 4 year college.

Amazing.

Check out this incredible report on Urban Prep from ABC:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjjQ6fFFyZI


It happened because of hard work and high expectations, not lazy teachers with guaranteed job security and a low bar to “pass” to graduate. Each morning, in what is called “Community” ,the entire student body recites the following Creed:


The Urban Prep Creed

We believe.
We are the young men of Urban Prep.
We are college bound.
We are exceptional-not because we say it, but because we work hard at it.
We will not falter in the face of any obstacle placed before us.
We are dedicated, committed and focused.
We never succumb to mediocrity, uncertainty or fear.
We never fail because we never give up.
We make no excuses.
We choose to live honestly, nonviolently and honorably.
We respect ourselves and, in doing so, respect all people.
We have a future for which we are accountable.
We have a responsibility to our families, community and world.
We are our brothers' keepers.
We believe in ourselves.
We believe in each other.
We believe in Urban Prep.
WE BELIEVE.

That's pretty good stuff.

We can make our schools a shining example of excellence EVERYWHERE. We just have to WANT TO enough to not protect bad or lazy teachers, administrators, unions or school boards or uninvolved parents from the primary objective of giving all of our children a world-class education.

Do we want to BADLY enough?


If you’d like my blog in your inbox daily, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com