Firing Offenses

NATIONAL Education Association President Bob Chase, undaunted by the news that more than half of Massachusetts teachers had failed their competency tests, characterizes the problem of bad teachers as a matter of “a few bad apples.” But when America’s children return to the classroom this fall, many of them will be instructed by teachers who are not only incompetent, but sometimes actively dangerous. And the teachers unions make removing them nearly impossible. In recent years, the unions have gone to bat for felons and for teachers who have had sexual relations with their students, as well as for teachers who demonstrably could not teach. For the unions, apparently no apple is so bad that it need be tossed from the barrel.

The process of getting rid of problem teachers, especially those with tenure, can be so arduous and expensive that many school districts don’t even bother any-more. “Getting rid of a problem teacher can make the O.J. trial look like a cake walk,” says Mary Jo McGrath, an attorney in Santa Barbara, California, who helps administrators deal with bad teachers. “For a principal, it can seem a lot easier to hang on to the dead wood. Teachers are more protected than any other class of employees, with all the procedural rights that can drag a civil case out for years.”

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Peter Schweizer

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NATIONAL Education Association President Bob Chase, undaunted by the news that more than half of Massachusetts teachers had failed their competency tests, characterizes the problem of bad teachers as a matter of “a few bad apples.” But when America’s children return to the classroom this fall, many of them will be instructed by teachers who are not only incompetent, but sometimes actively dangerous. And the teachers unions make removing them nearly impossible. In recent years, the unions have gone to bat for felons and for teachers who have had sexual relations with their students, as well as for teachers who demonstrably could not teach. For the unions, apparently no apple is so bad that it need be tossed from the barrel.

The process of getting rid of problem teachers, especially those with tenure, can be so arduous and expensive that many school districts don’t even bother any-more. “Getting rid of a problem teacher can make the O.J. trial look like a cake walk,” says Mary Jo McGrath, an attorney in Santa Barbara, California, who helps administrators deal with bad teachers. “For a principal, it can seem a lot easier to hang on to the dead wood. Teachers are more protected than any other class of employees, with all the procedural rights that can drag a civil case out for years.”