Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Cunningham anti-tenure, merit pay bill draws action alert from Missouri NEA

Missouri NEA is asking its members to contact senators to let them know how they feel about Sen. Jane Cunningham's legislation, SB 372, which would eliminate teacher tenure and base teacher pay on standardized test scores.

A hearing for the bill is scheduled for a meeting of Sen. Cunningham's General Laws Committee at 1:30 p.m. today.

In an action alert issued Monday, the NEA outlined its position on tenure:

Teachers need an effective voice in their schools. Teacher tenure is just a process to address issues of concern and ensure teachers are not fired arbitrarily. Where districts face challenges with under-performing teachers, the real issue to address is establishing a quality evaluation system that provides teachers with feedback and support in improving performance and addressing concerns.

My thoughts on teacher tenure can be found in my latest Huffington Post blog at this link.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thats a good article Randy, well said. I don't know what the answer is or how it will play out, but good teachers are harder and harder to come by, and harder to keep. My niece retired mid-term after 31 years in a public school system. She said this year produced a class of the most unruly children and parents she had tried to deal with.
Enough was enough, it was someone elses time to try it.