Teacher tenure subject of latest Huffington Post blog.

In my latest Huffington Post blog, "When It Comes to Teaching, Who Needs Experience?" I refute the major arguments made by those who are clamoring for the elimination of teacher tenure.

The post comes at an opportune time, since Sen. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, appears to be pushing this bill through the Missouri Senate, beginning with the General Laws Committee she chairs.

My blog can be found at this link.

Among the observations in the post:

The conceit of No Child Left Behind is the idea that prior to its enactment, public school teachers and administrators were doing their best to deprive children of the American dream.

I can tell you categorically that the teachers I have worked with these past 12 years have not been sitting around, waiting to get tenure so they can take a long nap until retirement. We agonize over children who do appear to be slipping through the cracks, ones who move from school to school, never staying long enough to get an education.

We agonize over how to help children who suffer from physical, emotional, and sexual abuse that is almost impossible to comprehend. We deal with children who have parents in prison, who are exposed to drug and alcohol use every day, and who sometimes do not receive any kind of nourishment from the time they leave school until they arrive for breakfast the next morning.

The most remarkable story, and one that has remained untold, is the incredible number of successes we have with these children. While Waiting for Superman took cheap shots at public schools, emphasizing children with parents who care and failing to interview any teachers, veteran teachers have been in the trenches, doing what we have been doing all along, educating the vast majority of American children, and doing our best to succeed with the rest.

For this, we have become the nation's villains, labeled as selfish and self-involved.

If you agree with what I have written, please pass along the link.