Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 8, 1995 TAG: 9511080084
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"It's a very scary situation," said Stultz, a teacher at Fallon Park Elementary School in Roanoke. "It could have a very negative impact."
Leaders of teachers' organizations in Western Virginia agree.
Short-term contracts would make it more convenient for superintendents and school boards to fire teachers whose political views they don't like, says Marshall Leitch, director of the New River Valley unit of the Virginia Education Association.
Stultz, president of the Roanoke Education Association, sees no need to change the current system, which protects teachers from being fired without cause after a three-year probationary period.
William Bosher Jr., state superintendent of public instruction, has proposed that the state offer three- to five-year contracts for teachers that would link job security with student performance.
Bosher says he wants to make it easier for school divisions to get rid of poor teachers as the state begins to implement new academic standards.
His plan would make teachers more accountable by having their work reviewed every few years, he says.
Under the current system, teachers are employed under "continuing contracts" after they complete probation. That means a teacher automatically is rehired every year unless removed for cause.
Parent-Teacher Association leaders in the Roanoke Valley won't comment on Bosher's proposal because the organization has not taken a position on it.
"We are following this, but at this point we don't have anything to say," said Shirley Thomas, regional vice president for the state PTA.
But a leading Republican in the House of Delegates advocates a plan similar to Bosher's to break what he calls the "cycle of mediocrity" in education.
No one should be guaranteed an indefinite-length contract when they are being paid with tax dollars, says Del. Phillip Hamilton, R-Newport News.
Hamilton, who has tried unsuccessfully for the past two years to get the legislature to adopt short-term contracts, says the change is needed to help restore accountability and improve students' academic performance.
"Tenure represents the stagnation produced by job protectionism," he said. "If education is going to be the vehicle for improving our society, it is time for a major overhaul."
Hamilton says school divisions should have the same flexibility as private businesses to hire the best work force to meet changing educational needs.
But Stultz says school divisions already have a procedure to get rid of poor teachers without having to revamp the entire system.
Bosher says many school divisions don't try to replace poor teachers under the current system, however, because it can be a long process with a series of hearings and appeals.
Performance contracts have been discussed in several states, but only a few have considered them, mainly because of teacher opposition.
"It's a great idea that has been endorsed by many governors and state legislators, but it's a battle that many people won't want to take on because of teacher union contracts and existing state laws," said Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform in Washington, D.C. The center is a nonprofit organization that is a clearinghouse for education reforms, research and action in public education.
The 52,000-member VEA is expected to fight Bosher's proposal. Bosher says he intends to discuss it with the state Board of Education next month.
The General Assembly would have to approve any change in the state's continuing contract law.
"I hope we can stand strong against it," said Judy Deyerle, president of the Roanoke County Education Association. "It seems like another attack on teachers."
Some critics of public schools blame teachers for students' poor performance and other problems in schools, she says.
Kitty Boitnott of Roanoke County, a district president for the VEA, says bills to eliminate the continuing contract have been killed in General Assembly committees in recent years. But it could be a tough fight if Bosher and the Board of Education support a change and the political makeup of the legislature changes significantly, she says.
"We feel it is important for teachers to have security from being fired willy-nilly without cause," Boitnott said.
Boitnott says teachers want to be held accountable, but it would be unfair to link job security to student performance.
She says teachers in inner-city schools should not be held accountable for the same level of student performance as teachers in suburban schools.
Students have to be held accountable, too, if teachers are going to be judged on students' performance, she says.
In the New River Valley, Leitch says, teachers believe in accountability. But Bosher's proposal is linked to students' performance on standardized tests, and test scores are just one part of a larger picture in measuring effective teaching and student performance, he says. Using student test scores to evaluate a teacher is subject to the same abuse as term contracts, he says.
If some teachers have 30 students in a classroom and others have 20, Leitch says it would not be fair to hold them to the same standards of student performance. Neither should teachers in classrooms lacking the same educational technology as others should be evaluated by the same criteria, he says.
by CNB