House proposes to eliminate teacher tenure

House Bill 628, or the Teacher Continuing Contract Act, was proposed to the Missouri House of Representatives in early March and could change the way the education system works for Missouri teachers.

Representative Scott Dieckhaus, R-District 109, proposed the bill that contained measures to eliminate the current tenure system, change teacher evaluation and create a teacher pay scale partially based on student performance.

Neither Dieckhaus or any of the sponsoring representatives responded to requests for an interview.

"The first proposition was to get rid of teacher tenure, and they are also wanting to make teacher pay based on how well students perform on a tier system," said Representative Zachary Wyatt, R-District 2.

Wyatt said he thinks the most contested part of the originally proposed bill is the pay tiers.

Salaries for teachers would be separated into four levels based on evaluations and how far their students have progressed academically, according to the bill.

Wyatt said he thinks the teacher pay elements either have been removed from the bill or changed.

The current tenure system would remain in effect until June 30, 2012, according to the proposed bill.

Contract length for teachers also will be dependent on evaluations and student achievement, and teachers would be issued either continuing contracts or one-year probationary contracts, according to the proposed bill.

A continuing contract is defined as "every contract entered into between a school district and a teacher for two or more consecutive years," according to the bill.

Kirksville and many other districts already take this into account when performing evaluations, Kirksville Superintendent Patrick Williams said.

"We monitor our performance carefully and our student achievement, and if we feel that student achievement is not what it should be then we take appropriate action and corrective measures," Williams said.

Evaluations already occur twice a year with teachers and every three years with tenured staff, Williams said.

The bill also includes a clause about administrator evaluations partly being based on how well their subordinates perform. Williams said the Kirksville district already has improvement goals for administrators, and other schools do this as well.

Williams said he thinks the bill could face some challenges because it is difficult to decide how student progress is measured.

"The bill ties a lot of student performance and test data into making a decision, and the challenge is what measures do we use," Williams said. "How fair is one test in determining student performance?"

Williams said ensuring teacher quality seems to be the primary idea behind the bill, but that they are going about it in an impractical manner.

"It would have to be a model built on student growth," Williams said. "It will just be difficult to come up with something that is valid and an evaluation system that is fair and equitable for all teachers."

Robyn Pasa, second grade teacher at Kirksville Primary School, said she does not know if the system needs to be changed.

Pasa said she thinks teachers and administrators need to use effective evaluation tools and documentation to ensure that there is evidence if teachers are not up to par.

"If teachers are not doing their job and there is documentation of it, then they should be asked to leave the profession, but they need to be given the chance that due process gives them," Pasa said.

Wyatt said the bill has not yet left the committee and therefore is changing constantly.

Wyatt said he will not support the bill as it stands, but he is watching changes to the bill closely.

"It isn't resistance to this bill, as much as making sure that we get our two cents in," Wyatt said.

Wyatt said the bill probably will be discussed the second or third week of April. There currently is no scheduled hearing, according to the Missouri House of Representatives website.