In a message dated 11/18/2001 4:18:21 PM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> > More than you may realize. The teaching staff at a > magnet school in Michigan recently decertified the > Michigan Teachers Associasion as it's representatives. > > It is no leap of logic to see that the success of > magnet schools could become a nightmare for > Minnesota's (and every other state's) unions. > > Without a monopoly in education, the union will have > to justify it's continued contract with our teachers. > Those teachers that excel will become very hot > properties, those just along for the ride will fall > behind. Let me take an educated guess about what was at issue in the move to decertify the MTA at a magnet school in Michigan. Could it be pay for performance and tenure rights? When parents in Minneapolis complain about the public schools keeping on really bad teachers, the administration points its finger at the teachers union. Those teachers, especially the tenured teachers simply have too much job protection, according to the administration. The truth is that the district may fire tenured teachers for a lot of things, including poor job performance. The teacher tenure act, which is incorporated into the teachers contract, merely requires the district to produce evidence of poor job performance, and that it has made a reasonable effort to identify and correct the problems with a particular teacher. Tenured teachers have appeal rights in one situation where non-tenured teachers don't: termination at the end of the school year. A teacher has tenure rights after 3 years on the job. That's a 3 year probationary period y'all. That's why a lot of these schools where most of the teachers are non-tenured are run like banana republics. I addressed this issue as part of my school board platform. What's wrong with pay for performance? A teacher's performance has a lot to do with a number of factors beyond the teacher's control. The link between pay and performance really gave administrators a lot of leeway to determine how much to increase a teacher's salary. Many teacher believed that the process was unfair. The teachers that did the most kissing up seemed to get the best job evaluations. -Doug Mann Doug Mann for School Board web site: <http:educationright.tripod.com> _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
