“The fact remains that it's difficult and expensive to get rid of a veteran teacher who isn't getting the job done” (Starzyk and Stephens). Examples of the cost of getting ride of a veteran teacher are also listed in the article “Good teachers are key to student achievement, but bad ones are hard to fire”, from the Plain Dealer, November 30, 2008. In class, I personally mentioned a tenure teacher in my high school who shouldn't have been teaching. The teachers’ unions obviously place a significant road block to physically removing incapable and unprofessional teachers from their positions. I can see why some school districts would not want to waste the money to even try to have them removed. How do these enabling unions increase the professionalism of the teaching profession? They don’t!
Do teachers' unions promote professionalism in the area of work ethic? Do the teachers’ unions perpetuate slackers in the profession? If unions say to it’s members that they only have to attend so many meetings in a scheduled period of time, and they only have to work so many hours in a day, then perhaps the unions are perpetuating slackers. Is it professional to only give the bear minimum to a profession? What ever happened to high standards and high work ethic? What ever happened to giving more than what is required? In the Plain Dealer article mentioned above, it discusses ordinary people’s complaints about the teaching profession’s "entrenched mediocrity." Many ordinary people’s biggest complaint about teachers was that “they did not really care about their job”.
The State Board of Education adopted the new teacher, principal and professional development standards in October 2005. The Standards for Ohio Educators book details the standards and how they can be used which is found on the ODE website. On the website is a PDF on the Ohio Standard for the Teaching Profession. In this document is listed the following: “Teachers assume responsibility for professional growth, performance and involvement as an individual and as a member of a learning community.
• Teachers understand, uphold and follow professional ethics, policies and legal codes of
professional conduct.
• Teachers take responsibility for engaging in continuous, purposeful professional development.
• Teachers are agents of change who seek opportunities to positively impact
teaching quality, school improvements and student achievement”.
The big question is: Are the teachers’ unions helping or hindering teachers from accomplishing these goals?
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I would also like to add to your comments about unions. Don't you find it interesting also that many unions will protect a teacher who has committed a crime the same way? It seems to be a reoccuring notion that it is too time consuming and too expensive to deal with these issues at hand. In the article on "passing the trash" (Education World 12/9/98) "it was found that numerous teachers have been protected by their unions because taking an employee to court to get him/her dismissed can be expensive and time consuming". Also because ample proof is needed in the court of law MANY of these cases of misconduct are dismissed or let go. To be complaetely honest with you I do not beleieve that I care to be part of a union that includes this as their definition of protecting the rights of their employees. It is scary what is happening in our school systems today. I believe some type of reform needs to be addressed with unions and the legal issues in the classroom.
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