At the Sept. 13th, 2021 Board of Education meeting, we will be honoring the teachers who have achieved tenure with the start of this school year. This is a wonderful accomplishment for any teacher who has worked hard for four years to prove their merit, but just think of what this group of teachers has experienced. Their final year leading up to the tenure decision was perhaps one of the strangest years in the recent history of American education. Seven months into their third year teaching, when most teachers are really starting to get into their groove and feel a sense of confidence in their craft, school buildings suddenly shut down for what we hoped was two weeks and turned into the rest of the year. They shifted all of their energy into teaching students through a screen, something no teacher had ever been fully trained to do. And all this while under the direction of a new Superintendent who himself was only 7 months on the job. Fortunately, from what I have seen at least, they had an Assistant Superintendent with years of knowledge of this district, highly qualified Supervisors in all curricular areas, dedicated building Principals who never missed a beat despite the challenges, and most importantly, experienced colleagues who came together to help and teach each other through it all. And they survived it, and thrived despite it, and have demonstrated their skills and commitment to the profession.
It is especially gratifying to award tenure to our highly qualified teachers tonight because their continuing growth and expertise will benefit each student that enters their classroom. In addition, granting tenure to qualified teachers raises the profile of our district and demonstrates our commitment to our teachers. It tells the community that we trust and value these individuals with educating our children. It tells our staff that we value their commitment to us and are willing to give back in return for that. It positively contributes to morale in our district and in our buildings when we are willing to fully embrace our new teachers as part of the Panther family.
Although teacher tenure seems to some to be unnecessary in today's day and age, it is an important part of the educational environment for several reasons. What tenure provides teachers is the guarantee of due process - not the guarantee of lifetime employment - but the assurance that they will not be terminated without just cause. It is not a perfect system, but it is an essential one in a profession where, as teacher and blogger Peter Greene puts it, you "answer to a hundred different bosses." In the article, "How Due Process Protects Teachers and Students," Richard D. Kahlenberg explains:
[T]he argument for tenure—and the requirement of “just cause” firing—is especially compelling in the case of educators. Teachers feel enormous pressure from parents, principals, and school board members to take actions that may not be in the best interests of students. . . Because all adults, from parents to school board members, have themselves attended school, they feel qualified to weigh in on how educators should teach, while they would never tell a surgeon or an auto mechanic what to do.
To begin with, teachers need tenure to stand up to outsiders who would instruct them on how to teach politically sensitive topics. A science teacher in a fundamentalist community who wants to teach evolution, not pseudoscientific creationism or intelligent design, needs tenure protection. So does a sex-ed teacher who doesn’t want to be fired for giving students practical information about how to avoid getting HIV. So does an English teacher who wants to assign a controversial and thought-provoking novel.
As a tenured Professor, I have great respect for the importance of academic freedom in classrooms. After they've demonstrated their professional competence and subject area expertise for the first four years, teachers should have the academic freedom to apply that expertise without interference from others' ulterior motives or fear of unfair retribution and dismissal for doing their job. I am very proud of all of our teachers and I am eager to see what future accomplishments come from those we are honoring with tenure this year.
(As always, these comments are my own and are not intended to represent the Pequannock Board of Education.)