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This article originally appeared in the Montgomery Advertiser on March 6, 2000.

We Must Hold Educators to the Same High Standards As Our Children
by Ruth Ash

For nine years, A+ has worked hard to improve schools. Like many in Alabama, we find Alabama's deeply entrenched tenure policies are a barrier to school improvement.

That is why A+ commended Governor Siegelman's goals in his State of the State address. For the first time in Alabama's history, he proposed tying teacher pay increases to increased accountability. He named the end of tenure for principals and his desire to make it "faster, easier and cheaper to dismiss ineffective teachers" as legislative priorities. We support the Governor's stated goals.

This focus on quality couldn't come at a better time for Alabama's students. Faced with what may be the most rigorous graduation requirements in the country and a new challenging exit exam, Alabama's students need access to the best and brightest teachers and principals.

Current tenure law is the product of a strong and well-financed teacher's union under the long-term leadership of Paul Hubbert, one of the most powerful individuals in the state. Alabama law extends tenure to principals making it expensive, time-consuming and very difficult to get rid of ineffective school leaders. Most states don't do this. Most states tie the position of principal to a fixed, performance-based contract. Moreover, Alabama's dismissal process for tenured teachers and principals is lengthy, cumbersome and expensive, keeping many ineffective principals and teachers in place. Most states have more streamlined and efficient procedures for dismissal. The children of Alabama pay the price for these kinds of protection.

When it comes to legislation, every word has meaning, and the devil is always in the details. Tenure is a very complicated legal issue, and those who have built up Alabama's tenure protections over the years are experts in the "legalese" of the issue. A few misplaced words can have years of impact and thousands of dollars of additional cost. Alabama's children cannot afford legislative mistakes that keep ineffective principals and teachers in their classrooms, wasting limited resources for public education.

Because the first version of the Teacher Accountability Bill did have some unintended consequences, the Governor wisely pulled his support from that bill and began work on another version.

Next week the Governor's substitute Teacher Accountability Act will be introduced. It is important for policymakers and the public to watch the language closely and consider every word. There are some key elements that should be accomplished in any teacher and principal accountability bill:

• Tenure must provide reasonable protection from dismissal and transfer for arbitrary, personal and political reasons. At the same time, real tenure reform should make it easier, faster, and less expensive to remove ineffective teachers and principals from our schools.
• Principals should be provided fixed, multi-year performance contracts without qualifications that create tenure-like conditions. A probationary period for first-time principals should precede the issuance of a three-year contract.
• The bill should provide for transfer flexibility to meet the instructional needs of schools and the children they serve.
• Any changes to the tenure law must not make it any more difficult to ensure effective and efficient management of schools for the children of Alabama.

Good teachers and principals work hard every day to educate our children, and they expect to be held accountable. We have given educational leaders the challenge of educating our children with high expectations. We must not legally bind their ability to deliver that education to our children.

At a time when we have dramatically raised standards for students, we should also make sure that we have effective and dedicated principals and teachers in place to help all students be more successful.

It is critical to provide every student with access to caring, capable and competent principals and teachers. Using the guidelines above, we can achieve real tenure reform. But, we must also guard against any legislation that restricts the ability to dismiss ineffective principals or teachers. That would be amajor step backwards and send the wrong message to Alabama's students.

Ruth C. Ash is the Dean of the Orlean Bullard Beeson School of Education and Professional Studies at Samford University.