State House Passes Teacher Tenure Bills

The state House of Representatives has passed bills that would make it easier to remove ineffective K–through–12 teachers from the classroom.

In times of layoffs, the bills would eliminate seniority as the main factor in which teachers are laid off.

Classroom effectiveness would be number-one instead.

The bills would subject new teachers to 5 years of probation instead of 4.

School boards would have the ability to fire any teachers on probation, without cause.

Tenure would be granted only to teachers rated ‘effective’ or better on their last 3 evaluations.

Tenured teachers could also be placed back on probation after 2 straight years of ‘ineffective’ ratings.