I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to post this hit. I had several
thoughtful replies about my target and I am posting them in two or three
hits. I am not including the replies that were sent to the list. I do hope
everyone took the time to read The Disposable Librarian on the AASL blog.
Thanks for alerting us to that blog post, Alice Yucht!
http://blogs.ala.org/aasl.php?title=the_disposable_librarian&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
After much thinking and reading the replies, I have decided that we do
have a process in place, but it totally depends on the strength of our
administrators. Wish they would do their jobs. Thanks to the ones who do!
Here is my target followed by the replies I received. Thanks to all!
Nancy Dickinson, Librarian
Hillsboro Elem. School
Hillsboro, TN 37342
dickinson1@k12tn.net
TARGET: OK, I'm not sure "policing" is the word I want to use, but I am
curious about your opinions about whether or not you think it might be
time for our profession to find a way to dismiss rather than defend people
who really should find another job.
Do we really want people who are negative and feeling victimized by life
to be school librarians? Or teachers for that matter? I confess that I am
a member of NEA, but sometimes I think tenure is not good for our
profession. Do other professions have the equivalent of tenure? I know
it's impossible to get rid of all the bad lawyers, doctors, and teachers
in the world, but couldn't something change in our profession to help us
better ensure the quality of our colleagues? I'm curious to know if
academic libraries and public libraries are better able to weed out the
people who should look for another profession.
Just thinking....
REPLIES:
Good school administrators weed out bad teachers and bad school librarians
before they ever receive tenure. One of my school library positions was
as
a replacement for a school librarian who didn't cut the mustard. The
principal did not renew his contract, and encouraged him to look for a
library position that didn't demand a lot of teaching (he was a bad
teacher, not necessarily a bad librarian).
Bad administrators allow poor teachers and poor school librarians to stay
in their jobs. Any administrator with a back bone can work with the local
NEA union to try to help poor teachers and school librarians improve their
skills. That's why education contracts have a process in place to help
teachers improve, or to fire teachers who don't improve after they receive
tenure. Tenure doesn't mean you can't be fired. It means you can't fired
for no cause.
Unions are there to protect teachers and school librarians from being fired
for unjust reasons. When politicians or school boards bemoan the fact they
can't fire a tenured teacher what they really mean is the administration is
unwilling to work with the union to place a teacher on a 90 day notice to
either improve their teaching, or to be let go.
I worked in a district where an 18 year veteran was fired from their job
because the district worked with the union on placing the teacher on
notice
(he went from one of the best teachers in the district to teacher burn out
in under two years). The teacher was given very specific issues they
needed to change in the classroom. The district and the union gave him
the support he needed in order to make these changes in the classroom.
After 90 days, both the union and the district agreed the teacher hadn't
made enough progress to keep their job, and the teacher was fired.
Getting rid of tenure isn't the answer. The answer lies with
administrators and unions working together to police the education system.
When one or the other groups doesn't do their job, then the entire
education system suffers.
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I understand your concern, and I agree that those who shouldn't be
teaching should be counselled out of the profession. Tenure does not
protect bad teachers--at least in my state!
In Pennsylvania, if a teacher has two consecutive unsatisfactory ratings
they can be dismissed. When the first UNSAT is given, a plan for
remediating the teacher must be created and implemented. If the teacher
still does not meet the requirements of his/her administrator, the
district can dismiss the teacher.
In my opinion, the problem is not incompetent teachers, but lazy
administrators who don't want to do all of the documentation to dismiss a
teacher who doesn't belong in the profession.
I have worked in two separate districts where teachers have been either
dismissed (after getting tenure) or counseled out of the profession (in
conjunction with the local teacher's union.) Ironically, in the case where
the union counselled the teacher out of the profession, the district has
now rehired at least one of those individuals as a substitute.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
As a last year law student, I take exception to what you wrote below.
The legal profession is extremely strict about who is allowed to
practice law. As you will have noticed just last week, the prosecutor
who persecuted the Duke lacrosse players was disbarred with NO
opposition from the legal community. Lawyers who act unethically are
routinely fined by courts, and face state bar sanctions. Law schools put
the fear of God into law students regarding ethical behavior, and the
state bars publish disciplinary actions against lawyers in their weekly
newspapers and on their websites.
Doctors face similar expectations and similar penalties.
These strict licensing requirements and equally strict disciplinary
procedures are what make the traditional definition of "profession."
Librarians and teachers could take a lesson there.
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