Teacher tenure provides job security and protection from unwarranted dismissals or sanctions. The length of time required to earn tenure varies by region and level of education. Tenure can be revoked for incompetence, dereliction of duty, misconduct, or criminal behavior. Some regions have eliminated tenure guarantees, tying job security to student test scores. The National Education Association was formed in 1887 to provide a negotiating unit for teachers.
Teacher tenure varies by region, but generally ensures that an educator cannot be dismissed without cause. Some elementary and middle school teachers obtain tenure after serving a predetermined number of years in a school district. At the college level, instructors or professors can gain academic or permanent tenure. Academic tenure secures opportunities for promotion and protects faculty from unwarranted dismissals or sanctions. The permanent tenure of teachers preserves a job for life.
The number of years an educator must work in a school district before earning a teaching tenure varies by region. In the United States, each school district establishes requirements for teacher tenure during formal negotiations with teachers’ union representatives. Teachers working in some areas can gain tenure in as little as two years after completing a probationary period.
Academic tenure may require a longer probationary period as an educator applies for promotion at a university. Generally, faculty members start out as instructors before being considered for professor tenure. Instructors usually undergo regular performance reviews before being reappointed to a probationary position.
It takes eight to 10 years for university administrators to make a decision on tenure in some areas. An educator usually moves on as an assistant professor and associate professor before earning a professorship. As a teacher, the educator usually has a permanent mandate.
This means that a teacher cannot be fired except under extraordinary circumstances. He or she enjoys job security until retirement, resignation or death. Contracts in most areas provide exceptions to teachers’ tenure for incompetence or dereliction of duty. A teacher can also be fired for misconduct or unethical or criminal behavior.
Typically, a teacher who has tenure is preferred over educators who are probationary staff if layoffs are required. This is called strength reduction caused by enrollment decline or other factors. Some school districts choose to offer buyouts to teachers who are underperforming or approaching retirement age in order to avoid the due process procedures stipulated in teacher tenure contracts.
Typical union contracts between teachers and school districts provide protection for educators facing termination for poor performance. They are usually entitled to a hearing before union and school district officials, and the hearing may sometimes be held in court. Some regions have eliminated tenure guarantees in contracts, tying job security to student test scores. These provisions often include rehabilitation for ineffective teachers.
The National Education Association was formed in 1887 to provide a negotiating unit for teachers. Teacher tenure was first granted to college professors in 1910, but was extended to elementary and middle school professors in the 1920s as a result of the women’s suffrage movement. Prior to that, a teacher could be fired for getting married, pregnant, or wearing pants to work.
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