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CONTACT: mediaservices@aei.org / 202.862.5829
Campbell Brown spoke at AEI today on the issue of teacher tenure—undoubtedly one of the most controversial issues within education reform.
AEI’s newest Research Fellow, Katharine B. Stevens has spent a decade researching the issue of teacher tenure and its implications in the classroom—culminating in her newly released paper: Tenured Teacher Dismissal in New York. The report specifically focuses on Section [§] 3020-a of the New York State Education Law, which mandates that tenured teachers can be dismissed only after just cause has been established. After analyzing official decisions of § 3020-a hearings for New York City teachers from 1997-2007, Stevens major findings include:
• The purpose of § 3020-a hearings is not to determine whether a school’s charge of inadequate performance is justified, but rather to determine whether there is any possibility that an inadequately performing teacher can be rehabilitated. • Incompetent teaching in and of itself is not grounds for dismissal under § 3020-a. • From 1997 to 2007, 61% percent of the New York City teachers who were convicted through due process hearings of incompetent teaching, excessive absence, verbal abuse, and/or corporal punishment were returned to the classroom. • Proof that there is no possibility of rehabilitating a teacher is a necessary condition for dismissal.
Complete with case studies and analysis, the report provides an amazing insight into how teacher tenure affects teachers and students alike.
To arrange an interview with Katharine or another education scholar, please contact Meg Cahill at meg.cahill@aei.org or AEI Media Services at mediaservices@aei.org (202.862.5829).
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