Brian Hicks reads minds--or at least South Carolina teachers' minds. That's why he can assert that "they want a system that both protects then but doesn't leave them stuck pulling someone else's dead weight." Nevermind his tortured syntax.
The bee in his bonnet is public school teachers' right to a hearing if contracts are not renewed, the law meant to protect them from being fired without cause. Evidently, Hicks believes that these rules drag down public school results because public charter schools need not follow them. It's a plot, you see, that state lawmakers hatched to make public schools look worse than public charter schools!
Gee, Brian, maybe you should check under your bed while you're at it.
What is the reason behind these ancient rules protecting teaching jobs? We usually hear "academic freedom," but it doesn't seem to apply. Why don't principals have the power to fire failing teachers? Why should teachers be more protected than any other comparable worker who can be fired at will?
Teachers' salaries are too low and working conditions often horrible. Once tenure applies, salary scales reward each equally for experience whether capable or not . You have to wonder what would happen in public schools if these old ideas disappeared. Teachers as independent contractors? Teachers treated as employees of any other business enterprise? Charter schools seem not to have any difficulty finding teachers.
Mind boggling.
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