Gov. Rick Snyder Signs Teacher Tenure Law, Links Student Performance

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed a teacher tenure reform bill into law Tuesday, overhauling teacher performance evaluations by tying it to student achievement and lengthening the time it takes for teachers to attain tenure.

The new regulations are a severance from prior practices of making staffing decisions like tenure and layoffs based on seniority.

"It's really about student growth. It's not about comparing students in different districts," Snyder told the Associated Press. "The old ways of doing things with tenure, of using seniority as a primary guide, is just inappropriate in today's world when we need to focus on the students so much."

The new measures lengthen the time needed for a teacher to earn tenure to five years from four. Teachers who are graded "highly effective" for three consecutive years, however, could earn tenure early. Teachers who earn "ineffective" grades three years in a row will be removed.

From the AP:

Personnel issues related to layoffs and employee discipline no longer will be subject to contract negotiations, and teachers can be dismissed for any reason that's not "arbitrary or capricious." They previously could be discharged or demoted only for "reasonable and just cause." State superintendent Mike Flanagan has said the language should have been left unchanged to protect teachers' rights to due process.

But the grading rubric for teachers is still unclear, and questions abound regarding how teachers will be deemed "effective." "Student growth" is the only scoring metric announced so far, AnnArbor.com reports.

Critics of the new measures are concerned teachers could be let go for political reasons and senior teachers could be released for budget cuts. Supporters argue that the system will weed out ineffective educators.

The new teacher assessment system could be in place as early as Fall 2012, WOOD-TV reports.

The passage of this piece of legislation comes after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie revealed plans last week to limit superintendent salaries and pay the administrators based on the number of students they serve and grant bonuses linked to student performance.

In an opposite move Monday, the New York City Department of Education announced the termination of its teacher bonus program that tied educator incentives to student achievement in light of a new report that revealed teacher bonuses did not positively affect teacher or student performance.

Comments

[stopnlisten]

01:18 PM on 07/23/2011

The Gov of Michigan needs to practice what he preaches. If his state doesn't make things overall better by 25% then he shouldn't be able to be a candidate for the next election. After all he should be able to control all of the factors that effect his success just like teachers can control what goes on at home with their student. Right?

[stopnlisten]

01:10 PM on 07/23/2011

Granted there are stinkers in every field and occupation. Having said that...in defense of all of the educated, effective, wonderful, dedicated teachers out there...will someone have the guts to make parents and students accountable and take some responsibility for their learning? Contracts, something? What is it? Are you too afraid to call parents out because you might lose their vote?
No one is addressing lazy, disrespectful kids who can't be kicked out because it goes against the statistics needed to comply with Federal law. Parents can swear at teachers and not care and the teachers ar liable personally for the test scores of kids who bubble in smiley faces on sheets that determine the fate of the school! It's crazy people. Nail the parents and be tough on the kids. They will get it eventually.

[indigoiris715]

05:03 PM on 07/22/2011

http://www.jamievollmer.com/blueberries.html

Read this before you get behind this idea...

[JerryJH]

09:07 PM on 07/21/2011

If half of all new teachers leave the profession in the first 5 years, and Michigan has decided to voluntarily reduce the number of people electing to enter the profession in the first place, then I guess they should be running low on teachers very shortly.

It's OK though, Bill Gates, Michelle Rhee and Rupert Murdoch have a plan that involves lots of computers, testing and HUGE profits for them and their companies.

[formerLAresident]

06:18 PM on 07/21/2011

Recall Rick!
This Millionaire Gov. who signed this stupid law comes with no plan or idea on how to judge anything related to tenure. They are suppose to come up with something by the end of the year to be enacted by 2012 school year. Wake up people.... It's just another law written by the ALEC group (see the Nation) to destroy public education. We are all in trouble when the rich, conservative, anti-union and corporations write the law for legislatures we elect. They are voted by the people to work in the best interest of the people not unelected groups or corporations.

[kaleyrd1]

03:23 PM on 07/21/2011

Most teachers teach to the best of their ability and they should not be punished for the small ammount of bad teachers. What if the teacher is in an inner city school where even the brightest arent bright enough? Test scores and student progress should not be the only deciding factor. Fact is some teachers may be awesome but some students may not thrive in their way of teaching. My favorite teacher was very outgoing and would push for debates and his lectures were very engaging. Though I strived there are students who struggled because they like slower teachers or they work better by taking notes and just having someone talk and not ask them questions. There are too many factors that go into teaching and tenure should be something that is flexable. if a teacher is bad don't keep them for 30+ years. Fire them.
Personally teachers should be one of the highest paying jobs since parents are trusting them with the education of their children.

[android81]

01:25 PM on 07/21/2011

How long it takes to get tenure isn't the problem. It's tenure itself and those who hand it out without seriously considering the person to whom they are giving it.

[maninal2]

03:44 PM on 07/21/2011

Where do you get the idea that tenure is not considered before it's awarded?

[android81]

04:23 PM on 07/21/2011

Because I've seen it happen.

[jp90]

05:49 PM on 07/21/2011

I believe android81 is right. We have a teacher in my building who has been in the district as long as I have and was awarded tenure. He is horrible and should never have been allowed to stay long enough to receive tenure. Our current and past administrators have done little to truly evaluate new hires, and therefore several have earned tenure who really should not be in the profession. So I believe that in many school districts this does happen. Unfortunately.

[HaeJee]

10:17 AM on 07/21/2011

I have serious concerns in this new process. Imposing these new regulations is implying that education administrators are competent themselves. Many schools hire teachers to be principals. I have found, you can be a wonderful teacher, but horrible principal. If you hire a 22 yr old new teacher and the school administrator manages poorly, that teacher is test up for failure. We blame the teacher, not the principal for this failure.

Snyder needs to educate himself on public education. It says a lot about a politician who sends him own kids to a private school versus showing support to your public schools.

[eceresa]

08:46 AM on 07/21/2011

Rick Snyder is a trainwreck, and this round of "reforms" will weaken education in Michigan (again; it's already been weakened by several other cuts and bad laws). Tenure exists for a purpose: to shield people in a highly politicized job from the effects of politics, so long as they're doing their job well. Snyder just made it easier to subvert and short-circuit that system.

[Eddie VanderMolen]

09:58 PM on 07/20/2011

Hey Snyder? You smell that? That's Michiganders fermenting a big ol' batch of recall on your @ss. Enjoy Lansing while you still can.

[Freedom Lives]

11:21 PM on 07/20/2011

Perfect-

let's have Democrats and their Union cronies take over all of Michigan-

we've seen how they bankrupted GM with their sordid legacy contracts-

and we've seen how their control over Detroit for decades-

destroyed the entire city-turning it into a ghost town.

But hey-

why stop there?

Just run the entire damn state into the financial abyss.

Only then-will you leftist Shills be content.

Democrats and Unions in Michigan?

Sometimes what you DO-

speaks so LOUDLY-

I can't HEAR what you're saying.

[Eddie VanderMolen]

12:17 PM on 07/21/2011

Typical GOP rank and file rhetoric. Snyder is getting recalled for appointing city managers, usurping the democratic process in our cities is against our values. Raising taxes on retirees while giving tax breaks to corporations who can most afford them is against our values. Michigan doesn't need or want a Caesar. We aren't Texas. We don't kill our prisoners. We teach evolution. And, we elect our city officials. They aren't appointed from the governor's throne.

[Eddie VanderMolen]

03:36 PM on 07/21/2011

Your obviously spoon fed your news opinions by Fox News and probably Beck.

[gallo48]

05:48 PM on 07/20/2011

How can you evaluate a teacher based on having less than a year to influence the students progress? My evaluation will be based on how effectively the other 31 students have been taught by their teachers in the past three years. The only way a teacher could survive an evaluation like that would be to teach in the best schools (that's not a guarantee of positive evaluations but you have a better chance).

Now if you taught the same students for three straight years that evaluation system might have a chance to be successful.

[Eddie VanderMolen]

10:00 PM on 07/20/2011

Snyder is an idiot. He cut business tax while raising taxes on retirees. He's goin' down. This isn't about education. It's about breaking the MEA.

[emeraldcite]

05:40 PM on 07/20/2011

I see many tenured teachers in high-end, well-funded schools while those in struggling schools find booted out of the system.

[mlaiuppa]

05:01 PM on 07/20/2011

In today's world when we need to focus on students so much.

We've ALWAYS focused on students.

What we haven't focused on is standardized test scores designed to get politicians re-elected.

[ironicisntit]

05:53 PM on 07/20/2011

Amen...let's design a test that the constituents have to take ( or not, because the only repercussions will be on politician) to evaluate their representative. Then we'll base their pay on how those tests turn out.

[Hlynn]

02:26 PM on 07/20/2011

That Snyer signed a bill into law with such vague criteria ("student growth"? How much "growth"? Do all students have to show the same "growth"?), proves he's only out to make sure the public schools fail.

How can a law with no specifics even be enforced? That sounds like the reasons for firing a teacher can be very "arbitary and capricious". And who will decide what is or isn't arbitrary or capricious? Snyder or one of his devotees, of course. Snyder is obviously not concerned about the details, only the results any way he can get them--close public schools and privatize them for profit.

[Hlynn]

02:16 PM on 07/20/2011

How will teachers other than general education classroom teachers be evaluated? How will band teachers be evaluted? Will they be denied tenure and fired if their students don't practice instruments? How will P.E. teachers be evaluated? Will they be denied tenure and fired if their students can't do enough pushups? How will home ec/nutrition teachers be evaluated? Will they be denied tenure and fired if their students undercook the food? How about librarians? Will they be denied tenure and fired if their students don't learn the Dewey decimal system or return books on time?

I love this quote from Snyder: "It's really about student growth. It's not about comparing students in different districts," Snyder told the Associated Press. "The old ways of doing things with tenure, of using seniority as a primary guide, is just inappropriate in today's world when we need to focus on the students so much."

No, there is NO focus on the students. The focus (like a laser) is on teachers and test scores. If students don't come to school, don't participate in class, don't do assignments, disrupt class, and blow off the test, who pays the consequences? Not the students.

[Felix Scott]

07:39 AM on 07/21/2011

Who do I contact to get rid of Rick Snyder? I see where Jessie Jackson and the people of Benton Harbor are going over his head and trying to put federal pressure on getting him impeached. He is reckless and irresponsible.

[HaeJee]

10:11 AM on 07/21/2011

There is a campaign to recall him, but it isn't getting the same support as WI. Many people fear his deputy fill in, if he was impeached. The deputy governor is far right.

[Cold in Michigan]

06:20 AM on 07/22/2011

Find the recall list in your area and sign up.

[jp90]

05:51 PM on 07/21/2011

Amen.