Fire those non-performing teachers!

So, should we be able to fire teachers? Of course. I can’t stand the current system and don’t think it helps teachers or students at all.

Focusing on getting rid of teachers in the first three to five years before they’re tenured and no longer able to be fired is counter-productive. This is the time when schools should be doing everything possible to help new teachers—those first few years are tough, tough, tough.

Requiring districts to keep poor teachers is detrimental to students because they are not learning and to teachers because it lowers the professional standards. Having had a math teacher who, literally, sat at his desk day by day and did not teach AT ALL (except the many, many days he was being observed), I feel for kids who have teachers who have quit working. This would absolutely not be allowed in any other profession. Why in teaching?

More help for beginning teachers coupled with the ability to fire truly non-performing teachers would go a long way toward improving learning.

Tags: teachers, Obama