Teachers earn tenure as easily as kids pass kindergarten. They have to behave themselves and know some basics, but nothing special is required. Lawyer Lloyd Duhaime stated the legal definition of tenure as an appointment for an indefinite period of time. A tenured member has complete job security because they can only be removed for cause or retirement. This status gives prestige, more compensation and freedom.  If something is permanent, that’s a big deal, and a big commitment. California public school teacher, Camille Hommeyer, confessed in an article for The Huffington Post in 2015, ”I was excited to work towards tenure. What I didn’t expect was the ease and speed with which tenure can be earned in California’s public schools.” Many teachers across the country feel the same way as Camille. If the people who only gain from tenure agree that the flaws outweigh the benefits, why have the laws not been changed? The protection of tenure needs to hold teachers to higher standards. The low standards required to earn tenure has lead to inadequate teachers that bring down students, school systems, and the name of teaching in general. Laws on tenure allow this to continue happening by making the termination process to difficult. When given this high protection without a ton of effort on their part teachers to start just going through the motions. Being a satisfactory teacher takes more than that.

Poor-performing teachers with the protection of tenure are kept in schools; this is one of the major issues. It’s not impossible to fire tenured teachers but it almost seems like it is because of the difficult, lengthy, and costly process. According to The Department of Education as of 2015, the legal ordeals of firing a tenured teacher can cost $250,000, or more. In the eyes of school administrators the more cost effective thing to do would be to continue to let incompetent teachers teach. In an article written by TeachHub, an organization devoted to informing teachers, they shared a study from the New Teacher Project in 2009. It found that 86% of administrators didn’t even try to terminate  underperforming teachers because of cost factors. This proves tenure makes it too difficult to let go of teachers who aren’t effective. Teachers who are better suited for the job are then not able to fill their place.

There are tenured teachers who acceded teaching standards. I have encountered them throughout my years of school. They know how difficult the teaching profession can be, yet a good portion of those teachers still oppose tenure. Terry Moe, the author of Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America’s Public Schools, questioned teachers on their views of tenure in a 2015 report. 55% of teachers agreed that it is too difficult to get rid of tenured teachers who are lacking in their teaching abilities. Schools need to feel able to act when they realize there is an underperforming teacher in the system. If they don’t they let down hundreds of students who are there to get an education to support their future.

Students notice these teachers too. As a student, I get frustrated with teachers who seem to not care or cannot find effective ways to teach a classroom full of students. And watching exceptional teachers get laid off while keeping mediocre tenured teachers in the school seems completely unfair. Students in New York took a stand against this by filing a lawsuit, David v. New York, with help from the NY Parents Union. Their argument states, “Students have a right to a sound basic education delivered by our public education system and teachers’ rights do not override that.” To get that type of education students need teachers who encourage learning and push for growth, not ones who just show up and have no drive to teach. Tenure has a reputation to create teachers like the latter. Meghan Mathis, an educator, reported in her article that 42 of the 50 states require only three years or less to qualify for tenure. Granting a teacher tenure to give them time to become a good teacher and improve their skills only creates a gap in the education of the students taught by that teacher. Every teacher is going to have problems their first couple years; that is expected. Because they aren’t at their best they shouldn’t be given the high reward of tenure. Instead, there should be plenty of years before tenure to rigorously improve, be guided, and gain experience to hopefully earn tenure. Schools will then be left with quality teachers with the protections they deserve.

To change tenure for the better the state laws must change. From state to state the laws vary, but most are pretty similar. The common process they must go through includes: notifying the teacher of the problems, make specific accusations, and a hearing. This is the process that mostly stops administrators from even attempting to get rid of any tenured teacher. So why even give out tenure? When tenure was first created it served a meaningful purpose because there were teachers being fired unreasonably. Reasons such as women wearing pants, taking political stands, or even hanging out with the “wrong” crowd and being out too late at night. So tenure gave teachers personal and political freedom. The School Boards Association of New Jersey made a valid point that there are now job protection laws in place that protect these constitutional rights and that makes tenure almost unnecessary. Steven E. Glink, an attorney, explained on his website that teachers have their right to freedom of expression without tenure. This means teachers should be able to practice this right without fear of losing their job. With these laws in place the tenure laws need to be tweaked to be a positive part in the education system. California has been the first state to formally realize this and chosen to do something about it.

Talk of improving tenure increases every day and some people have started to take action. The main and most largely known court case on this subject is Vergara v. California. In this case the courts sided with Vergara (against tenure as it is now). TIME magazine reported this case on November 3rd, 2014, saying it was “a powerful proxy for a broader war over the future of education in this country.” As cases pop up around the nation these words are found to be true. People are slowing realizing the flaws in the old tenure laws and need to take a stand to change it. It’s a long road ahead for all these changes, but in the end it will be worth it.

Everyone in a school system is affected by tenure laws. It affects teachers’ careers and students’ quality of education. Working towards tenure should be a journey for teachers, not a walk in the park. Earning this should be less like passing kindergarten and more professional. Tenure doesn’t push underperforming teachers to grow and there are effective teachers that are against this protection. The quality of a teacher affects classrooms full of students trying to prepare themselves for the competitive workforce. Teachers jobs then, cannot be taken lightly. Tenure doesn’t serve the same purpose it did years ago. As schools and societies grow, the laws should adapt. Schools should be filled with teachers like Camille Hommeyer who are not only willing, but want to work hard to earn the benefit of tenure. Changing tenure laws won’t scare away worthy teachers, it will motivate them.